Cinders little dragon
by Thezebraking123
Summary: I love mama Cinder aus I love fairytail and I love RWBY so this is were my first attempt at a fic came from I hope you enjoy. [OC x Blake].
1. Chaper 1

(I'm taking heavy inspiration from argentotum's fic thorny tangle I admit to my sins please don't be mad)

The City of Vale was calm.

Dust lamps lit quiet streets, their soft glow pushing back the darkness. In the sky above, the shattered moon stood vigil, glowing with even greater brilliance. Happy and normal people walked the streets in ones and twos, safe in the knowledge that they were protected from the shadows by their ever vigilant guardians.

In the shadows of an alley way, Shade drake could only watch that happy world wistfully. From where he stood the comforting warmth of the light seemed so very far away.

"Shade?" A small voiced asked beside him. He felt a tiny hand come up to grip his sleeve. Glancing down, his yellow eyes met a gaze of crimson red.

He flinched, there was so much trust in those eyes. Too much trust. "Shade what's wrong?"

Shade frowned to himself. And they saw so much besides... Honestly, a seven year old shouldn't be so good at reading people.

"Ahaha- Nothing's wrong, Sis." Shade said, pulling off his best happy go lucky grin. At his side Luna frowned lightly to herself but said nothing. "It's just... ah. I heard there's a place where... I can get some food... but I'd have to go alone..."

Luna blinked, and then said exactly what Shade wanted. "Oh, okay! You don't have to worry about me Shade. I'll be fine!"

Shade's smile wavered once. "Really Luna?" He asked "Are you sure you'll be okay w-without me?"

"Yeah! I'm a big girl after all." Luna said with a mock salute.

"Okay, Luna. I'm holding you to that." Shade said, fighting to keep that fake smile in place. "I'll be back later..."

He started walking down the street but a few steps later he stopped, turning halfway towards his little sister. "Take care of yourself while I'm gone okay?"

And then the darkness swallowed him up. He never did come back.

One Year Later

"Hey! Let go of me! Let go of me!"

Roman Torchwick pinched the bridge of his nose. "Every. Single. Time." He said, glaring at his incompetent hired muscle. "Okay, which one of you let her in here?" Unsurprisingly, none of his men stepped forward to claim responsibility.

Turning back towards the man who caught the nuisance, Torchwick frowned as the little tiger faunes girl with red-black hair and piercing crimson eyes continued to struggle impotently.

"Look- just." He sighed. "Get rid of her. I don't have time for this."

"Don't have time for what, Roman?"

Roman sighed. "Perfect." He spun around, pasting a charming smirk on his face. "Nothing that you need to worry about, Ms. Cinder. Just... taking out the trash." He made a shooing motion towards the thug, clearly telling him to remove the brat from the immediate area.

"I said let go!" The little girl's shout drew the attention of everyone in the warehouse. With a explosion of fire she blasted out of the ratty, oversized, shirt that held her hostage, landing on the ground with a triumphant grin. Roman almost groaned.

"Remind me again why I'm even paying you people." He said. "Well, don't just stand there you incompetent moron." He pointed at the little girl with his cane, "Get her!"

A look of sudden realization came to another thug's face. "Uh.. Yeah!" He quickly reached down to grab the child, only to find that her little fist heading for his face. "Wha-"

"Ha!" the girl shouted. "Take that you big dummies !" She brandished a small wallet in her other hand.

The thug growled as he advanced toward the girl. "Get over here!" He said, glaring at the little girl.

She giggled. He probably would be more intimidating if she wasn't several feet out of his reach. She promptly plopped down on the floor and began riffling through the contents of his wallet.

"Make me dummy." She said. "Ooh!" Her grin grew wider as she pulled out a plastic card. She turned to Roman's thug, who by now had made it over to her.

"Hey dummy, how much lien is on this one?"

"Wouldn't you like to know you little brat." He reached down to grab her once more, but she disappeared in a burst of lightning and appeared on top of a crate.

"Over here you big dummie!"

"Hey! Stop standing there and grab her!"

"Ooops!" With another lightning burst little girl evaded the second thug. She giggled as she held up her next piece of loot. A dust pistol.

From a bit away, Roman Torchwick and newly arrived Cinder Fall continued to watch with despair and amusement respectively as a girl who couldn't be older than eight years old avoided several full grown men while skipping.

"What a cute kid..." Cinder said. She turned to Torchwick, eyebrow raised. "But I hope you didn't call me here to show off the incompetence of your hired footpads."

"Che-" Torchwick only scowled as Cinder Fall chuckled lowly. "Just imagine how much dust I could have stolen if I'd been provided with even mediocre henchmen."

"Indeed."

Torchwick sighed as the little terror nearly perforated a man's skull with her new pistol. "You know, I've had just about enough of this." He said. Swinging up his cane he pointed the polished handle at the girl. "Playtime's over, Crimson."

The grappling hook caught the little girl around her waist and yanked her off the crate she was currently standing on. With a flick of his wrist he sent her back up into the air, rolling his eyes as she landed with a soft thud on the wooden table in the center of the warehouse.

"Owie..."

"Yes yes you have a great big booboo." Roman said, taking the gun from her limp fingers. "I'm sure the child services would be very put out with me, but for the love of god just be quiet Crimson."

Cinder walked over to the table and looked down at the dirty little child.

"Crimson?" She asked.

"The color of her eyes." Torchwick said. "They glow almost as brightly as your spotlights do."

Cinder smirked. "Why, Roman, I'm flattered."

"I'm sure you are, my dear; however, I would be eternally grateful if we could just move on and forget this whole little... altercation... even happened." Torchwick turned to the nearest henchman and gestured for him to come over. "You, get rid of... this."

Cinder caught the man's wrist as he reached for the now restrained girl. "This one's piqued my interest, Roman. It's not every day you see a child who has a semblance already..."

Torchwick sighed and waved his men off. "Fine, just take her." He said, picking up the child's shirt and tossing it at Cinder. "Now not to rain on your parade but we do have actually important matters to discus."

Cinder cast one last glance around the warehouse. "This should be sufficient to begin our next step." She said, gesturing to the crates full of dust and dust crystals.

"And what, pray tell, is that next step?"

"Getting better henchmen for a start." She said, Roman scowled. "Lay low for a while, set up a scapegoat for the dust thefts. We're going to need some... time... before we're ready to put these plans into motion on a larger scale."

"Yes, years, you've been over this already." Roman rolled his eyes. "I've stolen your dust. It's long past time for you to start bringing the white fang around."

"Have faith, Roman." Cinder said as she gathered up the tiny child from the table. She stared up at Cinder with wide eyes. "We'll be changing the world before you know it."

As she exited the room, Cinder looked down at the child she was carrying. Her golden eyes flared once as the girl started to shift. "Don't even think about it." The girl froze.

Outside on the street an elegant black car sat with a nondescript older man in attendance. He bowed slightly as he opened the door for Cinder. And though his eyes lingered on the girl in her arms, he made no comment about her. "Was the meeting productive, Ma'am?" He asked as he got into the driver's seat.

Cinder Fall laughed. "More so than usual." She relaxed back into the seat, watching amusedly as the little girl with silver eyes yanked furiously on the opposite door handle. It was child locked, a second rate intimidation tactic and Cinder new it. Still it served the current situation rather well.

As the car pulled out of the industrial district and onto the highways the little girl finally stopped and turned to face Cinder. She sat in a ball in the opposite corner of the car her ears down and squinted up at the elegant woman who captured her.

"So what's your name?"

The child looked away. "Why do you care?" Cinder let the silence rest for a moment, just watching how the flashes of light from the dust lamps reflected off her silver eyes. Roman hadn't been lying when he'd said they glowed.

Most would be put off or annoyed by the little girl's reticence, but this wasn't the first time Cinder had dealt with stubborn children.

"My name is Cinder Fall." She said. No response. "...I'll just call you Crimson then."

The little girl glared. Cinder smirked. "That's not my name."

"Oh? Then what is it?"

"Hmph. Not telling." She stuck her tongue out.

"Then I'll just have to call you Crimson." Cinder flicked her hair over her shoulder and turned her attention to the city. To pass the time she pushed her aura into her fingers and snapped, sparking a small flame.

She needed dust to do anything worth mentioning, but a tiny blaze like this she could maintain with just her aura. She heard a soft rustle of fabric and glanced over to see the little girl only a few inches away, looking at the flame with wide eyes. The girl opened her mouth and ate the small flame.

"Yum that was tasty" this intrigued Cinder "How about we make a deal, little one. If you tell me your name I'll let you eat all the tasty fire you want."

"Really?" Cinder nodded in reply, and the little girl looked away. "I'm Luna Drake." She said.

"Drake...? Interesting." She extinguished the flame with a flick of her hand. At Luna's disappointed sighed she brought it back a moment later. "Tell me Luna, who taught you to do that trick back in the warehouse?" Luna looked at her in confusion. "How did you escape the hold of the..." Cinder chuckled. "Big dummy?"

"Oh that!" She shrugged and ate another flame, one hand reaching out to grab it before pulling it back. "I can make fire and lightning!" She said, grinning proudly. Now Cinder could see that cheerful, happy go lucky, attitude that Luna had shown while running circles around Roman's men.

"No one taught you how to do it though?" Cinder asked again. The flame in her palm trembled slightly.

"My brother taught me!" Luna looked sadened mentioning her brother

"Imagine that..." Cinder felt a smile slowly spread across her lips.

The car pulled to a stop next to an upscale apartments near the inner city a few minutes later. "We're here Ma'am." The driver said over his shoulder as he put the car into park. As Cinder nodded he exited the car and opened the door for her. She gestured for Luna to follow as she stepped out onto the concrete. "Also, your uncle asked me to inform you that he requests your presence next weekend at the villa."

Cinder rolled her eyes as she pulled Luna close to her side. "Tell him I highly doubt I'll have time to spare. I've already made plans." She said as she made her way to the door. It slid shut behind her just as Luna began to squirm. "Stop struggling." Cinder chided as they entered the elevator. "We're just going to your new home."

The child froze, looking up at Cinder with huge eyes. "What?"

Cinder smirked, reaching down she rested a hand on top of Luna's head. The little girl flinched but didn't pull away. "We're going to the place where you will live from now on." She said. "There will be food and new clothes and a soft bed for you, if you would like that."

Even if Luna didn't say anything she couldn't hide the way her eyes lit up at Cinder's words, before her common sense caught up with her childish imagination. She glared up at Cinder with all of the ferocity of a kitten. "Why?"

"Poor girl." Cinder said, ruffling Luna's ears and hair "Someone abandoned you didn't they. Now you're suspicious of everyone."

"Hey, let go!" Luna said "And I'm not suspi- suspi- suspiclish!". Luna didn't understand why this was happening. She was a nobody that nobody else had time for, especially some one like Cinder. She didn't understand why this woman, who to Luna, looked like everything Luna herself was not, would care about her at all. This woman was the kind of person to walk past Luna on a busy street, and not even notice the little girl in dirty clothes who lingered in the background just seeing an animal.

"Shhh." Cinder soothed, smiling down as Luna continued to struggle. "You don't have to be afraid of me. I promise that I will never abandon you, Luna Drake."

Luna pulled back slightly, shaking her head back and forth. "Why-?" She said, not willing to meet Cinder's eyes. Why did this tall and beautiful person want anything to do with her? She didn't understand it at all.

Just like she didn't understand why Shade would ever leave her.

Cinder stood and pushed Luna towards the elevator doors at the far end of the lobby. "Silly girl." She said. "You're special." As the two entered the elevator Cinder smiled down at her newest acquisition. "And someday we'll show whomever abandoned you what a terrible mistake they made."

After a moment Luna smiled back. "Really?"

The metal doors slid shut with a quiet ping, leaving only the empty foyer behind. The elevator raced up the building, reaching the top floors mere seconds later. Cinder strode down the hallway, her heels sinking into the thick crimson carpet that covered the floor. The hallway stretched the entire length of the building, but there were only two doors on the landing. Cinder could feel the grin growing wider and wider on her face even as she pulled out her scroll and let Luna into one of the doors.

She watched as the little girl practically skipped into the room, taking in her new surroundings with something akin to awe. A child, practically a toddler, who'd unlocked her semblance on her own. It was nothing short of miraculous, and where did she end up? On the streets?

Cinder almost laughed. It was a such a waste of pure, unadulterated, talent. And fools like Ozpin had the nerve to call her criminal.

It means was just Cinder's luck that this little girl interrupted Torchwick's meeting. The fool, he would have thrown her away too. Only seeing the nuisance of Luna's antics, and not the potential that they revealed.

Luna sprinted around the room, leaving another trail of sparksin her wake. Cinder wrinkled her nose at the breeze she created. "Luna, when was the last time you had a bath?"

The little girl froze, looking at Cinder, fear danced in those silver eyes. "Ummmm..."

Well that, Cinder thought, was more than enough of that.

It was shortly after bath, and a surprisingly large dinner, that Cinder showed Luna her room and left the now exhausted little girl to fall asleep. Returning to the lounge Cinder sank into the plush leather of the couch, drink in hand, and allowed herself a contented sigh.

Luna Drake was a diamond in the rough. A gem of almost incomparable value, and Cinder could only thank the poor fools that dropped Luna into her lap.

Cinders scroll began to ring she checked the caller I.D seeing it was her uncle she ignored the call and sent him a message "I am not having this conversation with you again uncle" she than blocked his number. She finished her drink and went to bed, she still had work to do.

Meanwhile in her room Luna was lieing on her new bed in her new pajamas staring at the ceiling thinking

She just... didn't get why all of this was happening to her. Cinder said she was special, and that's why she decided to keep Luna. But Shade didn't think she was special, or he never would have left Luna behind. Right? So what if Shade was right and Cinder had made a mistake? When Cinder realized that Luna was just a normal girl she'd leave her behind just like Shade did wouldn't she?

Well, Luna thought, to stop that, she'd just have to be special. If she was perfect, then Cinder wouldn't leave her behind. Yeah. That's what she would do. Luna nodded to herself as she snuggled deeper under the covers. She'd prove the Cinder was right, and that Shade was wrong, and that she Luna Drake, was special and important after all.

"Luna... Drake..." Cinder waited for her tablet to bring up information about her young charge, and when she saw the first article she almost started laughing again. "The missing beast of the now closed sunshine orphanage." The news had a brief summary of how she and her older brother, Shade Drake, went missing from the local orphanage they'd been placed in shortly after they were found wonder the street homeless them being brother and sister was a little odd considering one was a faunes and the other human but no one seemed to care.

Further investigations of that orphanage led to it being shut down due to abuse on the part of the staff, "... but apparently nothing worth pressing charges over..." Cinder murmured. "I wonder what happened to her older brother..."

A look at the police reports revealed that the orphanage had been abusive more so to the faunes children the caretakers showed a level of hatred to most of their charges that bordered on monstrous. It was the cost of legal fees and the lack of consistent testimony that saved the staff of the orphanage from a lawsuit in the end. There were also mentions of some underworld connections, but nothing that could be traced or even substantiated beyond a few vague words.

And yet despite her tumultuous beginnings, Luna seemed surprisingly well adjusted, especially for a girl her age on the streets. Cinder wondered if something else lurked behind those innocent eyes

The two kids had an auntie... who had been on a frontier deployment against the Grimm when Luna and her brother were found. A quick check of the hunter databases showed that she still wasn't back in Vale, but her tour was going to end in the next week and he'd return to the city shortly afterwards.

Cinder just had to handle the legal side of things before she came back and discovered her nephew and niece had gone missing.

Turning the tablet off, she stood up and stretched. She would deal with the rest of those problems later. With that she went to sleep.

The next morning, Luna slept in. Just a little bit.

Normally she didn't get much sleep, either because of the noise, the sunlight, or her own hunger. But this morning, having eating a large meal last night, and insulated from the noise and light both by the walls of the penthouse, all of Luna's normal 'alarms' were silent.

Cinder walked into the room shortly after seven and opened the blinds. In the bed Luna grumbled and rolled over, but sat up a second later regardless. She looked up at Cinder, already dressed with her hair coiffed, for a moment before sliding out of the bed.

"Um... morning?" She said quietly.

"Good morning Luna."

When she left the room, Luna found that breakfast had already been prepared, either by Cinder or a now absent housekeeper.

Luna wanted to ask a million questions, but Cinder was silent that morning, and Luna followed her lead, eating breakfast quickly and not even asking for seconds even thought it was really good.

"Come."

"Whaa-?" Luna's head snapped up as Cinder breezed past her to the door. How did she move so fast?

Hopping out of the chair, Luna scampered after the you woman as she left the penthouse. Their destination was just across the hall. Cinder opened the door with her scroll they both entered.

On the other side was one enormous room with a padded floor. The far wall was made entirely of glass windows overlooking the city and to the right Luna saw several large, padded, containers. The left wall had been stripped down to the concrete, as had the floor immediately before it. Several dummies and targets, all blackened with scorch marks, were arranged randomly in front of the wall.

Cinder turned around. "Today we're going to being doing a few tests." She said, walking to the containers.

Luna nodded determinedly to herself. This was her chance to make Cinder want to keep her around. Silently, she resolved to blow the beautiful lady's expectations out of the water.

Cinder pulled a small stop watch out of one of the cases. "Now, when I say 'go', I want to you touch the far wall and get back to where you started as quickly as possible." The room was nearly one hundred feet across. Even using her flames to propel herself it would take Cinder nearly twenty seconds to make it across the room and back.

"Go!"

And in a burst of lightning Luna was gone.

She was a tiny yellow blur across the room. Cinder saw as Luna jumped and landed horizontal against the wall before taking off again. A few seconds later, she brushed past Cinder in a gust of wind, nearly colliding with the wall right behind them.

Luna grinned up at her. "Was that good?" she asked as she tried to catch her breath.

Cinder looked down at the stopwatch: 12 seconds. For just about 200 feet.

"Oh yes, Luna. That was very good." Her praise made Luna grin even wider.

"What next?" She asked "What next?"

"Don't be too eager little girl. We have a long way to go."

"You're sure you can't find her?"

Ozpin sighed, but hdidn't let his despair slow his stride. "Unfortunately no. The only reason I was looking for her at all is because I thought to check the orphanage that they were both staying at in preparation for your arrival."

"Or rather, the orphanage you thought they were staying at."

Ozpin grimaced. "Yes."

"Did you find out what happened to Shade?"

Ozpin face not changing "it seems to have disappeared, we haven't found any trace of the girl either"

"How could you lose track of her you know how dangerous they is"

"I can assure you that if anything goes wrong we will take action" Ozpin responded

"Whatever I'm gonna go look around"

"Good luck, Rachel" said Ozpin as Rachel left.


	2. Chapter 2

Beep Beep Beep Bee-*

A small hand claws bared came down on the blaring alarm clock, cutting short it's terrible rein of beeps. Luna glared at it before she moaned and rolled out of the bed, landing on floor with a quiet thump. After another moment she pushed herself to her feet and stumbled over to the bathroom.

Over the past two weeks living with the beautiful woman named Cinder Fall, Luna had settle into something of a routine. She woke up at seven every morning sometimes earlier depending on nightmares. Some days she ate breakfast with Cinder, other days Cinder was already gone by the time Luna's alarm clock dragged her from her slumber, thankfully she didn't melt this one. Today was one of the latter, and Luna sighed to herself as she grabbed a cereal bar and a glass of milk.

She'd see Cinder later at least, so she wasn't too depressed, just a little lonely. When they ate breakfast together, Cinder always talked with her, and listened to her ramble about training or about ability's that she got better at using or whatever else came to Luna's head, often laughing quietly at Luna's antics.

Cinder would pay close attention to Luna's reoccurring fear of some form of experimentation Luna wouldn't say what they were she just kept "repeating scary man, scary man", Cinder would consol her every time she woke up from these nightmares.

Without Cinder, the giant apartment felt so empty for a little girl like Luna. The training room was better, because she could focus on making herself better, good enough for Cinder to smile at her and say 'good job'. So Luna spent most of her time there.

The second day of living in the Penthouse, Cinder had returned in the evening with a present for Luna.

"What's this?" Luna asked, looking at the small screen in her hands. Even with how small she was, it was tiny enough to hold in one hand.

"That's your scroll." Cinder said. She reached down and turned it on for Luna. "It serves as a phone and you I.D., with this you can open both the penthouse or the training room at any time, just hold it up to the door. You can also call me with it, I've already put in my contact info."

"Really? That's sooo cool!"

Cinder nodded. "However, I want you to promise me that you won't call me unless it's really important. When I'm in the city I'm usually very busy so I won't be able to talk to you all the time."

"Okay!"

"Thank you Luna." Cinder smiled. "I knew you would understand. Also, on days I'm not home when you get up, you can look here" she opened a new window, "to see some exercises you could do."

On the page was a short list of physical exercises, suitable for an eight year old, along with some aura exercises and, much to Luna's dismay, reading.

Cinder laughed at the expression on Luna's face. "I can't have you falling behind in your education Luna. Just do what you can, and I'll help you out with the rest when I get back."

Luna's sour mood vanished. She nodded with a bright smile. "Yeah! I'll finish it all."

"I'm sure you will, Luna."

So she grabbed her scroll and checked for a new text from Cinder. Just like always there was a short list of exercises for her to do, more than the first time, but not by a lot. Cinder was always talking about how she shouldn't strain herself.

"You'll end up short forever if you're not careful Luna."

"I'll be fine! I drink milk."p

But still Luna stuck to Cinder's instructions, never doing more, well never doing much more, then she was told. The rest of her boundless enthusiasm was focused into her aura training, and at the end of the day she always ended up doing her homework. Even though she found it boring.

School was just so boring, especially because she wasn't even there. It was just watching online teachers talk about boring stuff and she didn't even have any friends to talk with.

So today... she had some exercises, some aura exercises, school work and... Cinder trusted Luna enough to let her try combo magic attacks.

Thanks to Cinder wanting knowledge on Luna's abilities she had found out that her fire and lightning powers were not her semblance, Luna may have unlocked her aura but had no semblance to speak of her abilities were magic, the story's Cinder had come upon had lead her to the conclusion that her little Luna was a Dragon Slayer those born with the ability to kill a dragon.

Luna practically squealed with glee as she raced over to the training room, opening the big chest with the dust crystals in it. On the top in a small case were four tiny crystals, two red and two yellow. Forget homework, Luna thought, today she was doing something fun.

Closing the case and moving to the other side of the room, Luna set down the small box and opened it up. She looked at the crystals gleefully, but with remarkable restraint for an eight year old.

Luna took a red crystal out of the box and proceeded to eat it crunch after crunch she felt fire surge throughout her body filling her with energy, once the energy stabilized she picked up a yellow crystal the same effect but with lightning instead of fire.

Luna stood opposite to the dummy closing her eyes focusing her energy within her as she did fire and lightning started to surround Luna being, Luna opened her eyes staring at the dummy with determination before sucking in the air and yelling "FIRE LIGHTNING DRAGONS ROAR" but right as she does this she loses focus causing an explosion of fire and lightning knocking Luna back into a wall,

Luna's head began to bleed she felt the blood and remembered what Cinder had told "get bandages right" Luna repeated. Luna got the bandages from the first aid kit and hastily wrapped it around her head, she walked back into the training room and looked at the scorch marks she made.

"Grrrahh why can't I do this right" Luna screamed as she slammed her hands on the ground, as Luna began to calm down she sadly remembered a lesson her brother taught her it was hazy cause she was young but she tried her best to remember.

"Remember Luna when your using the roar don't just spill all the energy out focus in the direction you want it to go do this enough and it will be like second nature" explained the memory of Shade.

A single tear ran down Luna's face as she remembered her brother, she just wiped it away, she will do this she will prove him wrong she will show Cinder that she is worth keeping.

Luna refocused closing her eyes feeling the energy rising within her, she opens her eyes focusing on the dummy sucking in the air and yelling "FIRE LIGHTNING DRAGONS ROAR" a burst of fire coated in lightning shot from Luna's mouth as it hit the dummy blasting a hole through it.

Luna stood there wobbling back and forth "I did it yay" said Luna raising her hand " I feel so tired, I still got to do my homework and my normal exercises" Luna fell to her knees " meh I'll do it later" said Luna as she fell asleep.

"L-na. Luna. Luna!"

"Waaagh!" shot up, and Cinder jerked back, narrowly missing a head on collision. "Uuummm. Hi...?"

"Luna." Cinder said, eyes flashing. "What did you do to your head."

"Uuu... "

"Let me see it."

Luna scooted away, waving her hands in front of her. "Nonononono! It's nothing!"

Cinder reached out and turned Luna around. Without asking again she began unwinding the hastily done bandages as Luna winced and looks away ears tucking down. With a slither the bandages fell to the ground revealing her bloodied head.

"Luna."

Cinder gave Luna a look. "Are you always this eager?"

"Hehe... kinda?" Luna said. Cinder sighed. Moving over to the cabinets she took out a small bottle of ointment and rubbed that gently overLuna's head, causing the younger girl to wince.

Neither spoke for a bit as Cinder finished applying the ointment and rewrapped Luna's head with a clean bandage. Afterwards Luna sat curled up into a ball, not willing to meet Cinder's eyes as she awaited the woman's verdict. Then Cinder stood and walked to the door. "Well? Aren't you going to show me the fruits of your labor?"

And like the clouds had lifted, Luna smiled and scampered over to the training room. "See!" She pointed to the dummy, "I hit it! and I was standing... here."

Cinder nodded, she'd projected the flames over a few feet. Very impressive, especially because Luna didn't seem to have any sort of control of her powers. Cinder supposed she made up with it via her incredible connection with her aura.

"Well done." Cinder said, placing her hand on Luna's head. The girl smiled at the praising, pressing into Cinder's palm like a kitten she was. She let that continue for a moment before taking her hand back. "But you didn't do anything else today did you?"

Luna's silents was answer enough. Cinder crossed her arms and looked at her young charge. "Well?"

"...I'll do it all now..." Luna said. She trudged back over to the apartment and picked up the tablet Cinder chuckled lightly but turned her attention to her own tasks as Lunastarted her lessons.

For all intents and purposes, Luna was being homeschooled, and she was only a slight bit behind her age group despite her time on the streets, mostly due to Cinder's help. The girl had boundless energy when it came to anything physical, but give her a book and she passed out in a heartbeat.

But at the moment Cinder had more pressing matters to deal with than Luna's school work.

On her tablet was an article this morning's news paper. It hadn't been on the front page, but it had caught her attention none the less. Rachel was back in Vale, and she was looking for her missing niece. She stared at the picture of the women next to the small coffin of Shade Drake for a moment more and set it to the side.

This was a potential problem, or the final piece she needed to cement Luna's loyalty to her. She'd waited for a few days after first hearing that Rachel was back, just spending time with Luna cementing their relationship. Now it was time for the final push.

She watched silently as Luna blew through her lessons, then she stood. "Come with me Luna, I want to show you something."

"Huh?" But Cinder was already at the door, tablet in hand, forcing Luna to scamper after her. She scrolled through several messages as she called the elevator. Luna stood at her side, looking up at Cinder in confusion.

"It really wasn't fair was it." Cinder said.

"Huh?"

Cinder showed Luna the picture on her tablet. Luna's family. Luna stared in shock.

"It was obvious to anyone who looked that you weren't ready to talk about you past. I'm sorry."

"...for what..." Luna asked, clenching her fists at her sides.

"Not for prying into you history." Luna's eyes snapped up, Cinder met her gaze unapologetically. "I'm sorry they all left you behind."

"Shade didn't leave me for nothing !"

Cinder folded the tablet back under her arm. "He made a choice, didn't he? He chose himself over his family."

"N-no! That's not it at all! Shade was a hero!"

"Yes he was."

"... huh?"

Cinder looked back at Luna. "There is no doubt that he helped many kids. But that doesn't change what happened to you, does it Luna. He didn't save you. He left you behind.

"No!"

"He was your hero, before he was your brother."

The elevator opened, Cinder strode across the empty lobby Luna dogging at her heels.

"They- they helped people!"

Cinder smiled sadly at Luna. "And for their sacrifice I'm certain there will be statues build of them, and speeches given to honor them, and charities made in their names." She knelt in front of the little girl. "But that doesn't change this does it." She pointed at Luna's chest. "That doesn't change the emptiness, the knowledge that between everyone else and their own sister, you were second pick."

Luna looked away, her shoulders trembling with barely restrained sobs. Cinder gathered her into a hug. "It hurts doesn't it? To be left all alone. It makes you wonder what you did wrong, why they didn't stay, if it was your fault."

Luna nodded once, "W-was it my fault? W-wasn't I good enough for them?"

"I don't know Luna." Cinder said, picking the child up.

She clung to Cinder's shoulders crying openly now even as Cinder continued to walk down the streets. "W-will yu-yu-you leave me too...?" She whispered.

Cinder drew to a stop at a corner a few minutes later. She allowed herself a small smile when she saw the women standing farther down the street. Right on time. Instead of answering Luna, Cinder pointed. "Look." Luna turned and looked over her shoulder. A short distance down the street, waiting outside a building and only visible due to the streetlight he was next to, stood a very familiar woman.

"Auntie Rachel..."

"She's been looking for you, you know."

"What?"

Cinder set Luna down. "Ever since she came back to Vale she's been searching for you. And if you want, you can go to her right now. You can go back to your old life."

"Cinder...?" Luna looked back and forth between the two of them.

"Of course." She said. "You aren't the only one she's been looking for."

Rachel appeared to sigh before they began walking down the street, walking away.

Luna took two steps towards them, a pace away from breaking out into a run, and then she stopped. She looked behind her.

Cinder hadn't moved a step.

"Do you want to go back,Luna?" She asked. "I can't go with you. If that's what you want, this will be the last time we see each other."

Luna said nothing.

"I wanted to offer you this choice." Cinder said. "I needed to make sure that I wasn't keeping you against your will. Because if you choose to stay with me..." She shrugged with small smirk. "Well, I promise I'll never leave you."

Luna looked at the backs of her auntie. Shade had already left her behind and auntie Rachel was rarely around. Before, Luna wouldn't have cared, because as long as she could be with her auntie she knew she'd be safe.

And Rachel could do the same at any time.

She wanted to run after them.

She didn't want to leave Cinder.

Luna watched for a moment more, then she turned away. "No. I don't want... her." She said.

Cinder smiled at her, turning and holding out her hand. "Shall we go then?"

Luna nodded and slipped her hand into Cinder's. They walked back the way they came, and she didn't look back.

They returned back to the penthouse and slipped back into their normal routine, but something was different. Some distance that had been there before, keeping them apart, was gone. It was like, Luna thought, she was finally home.

But Luna still had one question to ask.

"Why me?"

Cinder looked up from where she sat on the couch. "Oh?"

"What makes me so special?" Luna asked. "I'm just me, I'm not strong, smart or fast- well okay I'm a little fast, but-" Cinder covered her mouth.

"You're Luna Drake." She said. "And that is more than enough." Luna smiled. "Now, let's try out the rest of those combo attacks."

Luna nodded. "Okay."

Luna sat with a fireball in her right hand and a electric ball in her left, heels kicking the side of the bed. It had been another week since she'd left her past life behind and she was still trying to figure out her relationship with combos. "Why won't you work...?" She asked, holding her hands to the ceiling.

Okay, so after testing out all the rest of her possible combos, Luna knew she wasn't going to be a combo specialist.

Fire and lightning separately she could manage, but that's just because Cinder was so good at explaining. She was naturally good with waslightning.

Cinder said her aura just 'syn-chro-nized' with lightning, whatever that meant.

On her shelf sat a single, small yellow dust crystal. Cinder told Luna not to eat it without her nearby.This crystal was special it would overcharge her energy researves for a short time. Lose concentration for an instant and the power would be released and was just as likely to kill her as her target.

So Luna was basically stuck. And she was bored.

A moment later she padded off the bed and walked over to the window. It was late afternoon, and the streets of Vale were painted a soft orange with the fading light. Luna watched as people, normal people, went about their daily lives.

Cinder wasn't in the apartment, and Luna knew her scroll would get her back to the penthouse, so she decided to go for a walk, and a minute later she was out on the streets of Vale.

She started wandering randomly through the city and with every step she took the boredom just evaporated.

The air was just so full of life, she waved to people as she passed and when they waved back she couldn't help but grin. It just, felt so nice to be a part of the crowd, instead of always watching from the periphery. She even bought a small popsicle which she ate as she walked. Life was pretty good.

And then she ran into Rachel.

Neither of them noticed at first, they were on opposite ends of the street after all, and there were several people in between them. Both were on their own and they were only ten or so feet away when they saw each other.

For a moment everything froze. Black eyes met Crimson and both of them, auntie and neice, just stared at each other. That first instant stretched, neither girl daring to move. One second, two, three.

Rachel reached out her hand.

"Lu-" She turned and bolted "-na!"

In less than a heartbeat Rachel was after her. She was taller than Luna, and her longer stride slowly let her close the distance between her faster neice. "Luna! Stop running! Please!"

But Luna didn't reply, she didn't so much as look back. Gritting her teeth, she turned into an alley, vanishing from Rachel's sight for a second.

Rachel rounded the corner right after charging into the alley only to stop when she saw the concrete wall blocking the other end. The alley was empty.

There were no trash cans, or bins, and certainly no Luna Drake. All that remained in the alley way was a scattering of sparks drifting in the breeze.

Rachel sank to the ground and buried her face in her hands.

Ozpin found her like that several minutes later. He had a gps installed on her scroll which led him right to the alley way.

"Rachel, what happened."

Rachel turned and looked up at her friend. She tried to smile, but it was a futile effort. "Oz old buddy... I saw Luna... She... she ran away from me."

Ozpin blinked.

It was only when she'd made it a several blocks away the Luna stopped running.

She'd used her lightning to vault up to the rooftops before shooting across the city like a lightning bolt. She could only count her lucky stars that she'd run into Rachel in the commercial district, where most of the buildings were only one story tall.

She plopped down on the roof of a shop, and took a second to catch her breath. She felt like she was gonna puke and pass out all at the same time.

Still Luna couldn't stay here, Cinder would probably be back at the apartment soon.

Luna pushed herself up to her feet, staggering drunkenly as she tried to get her balance back using her tail to help. Only after she was reasonably certain she could walk in a straight line without falling over did she make her way to the edge of the roof. She was just over two stories off the ground now. The gradual rise of buildings as she moved away from the docks had caught up to her.

Still there were things to catch onto, and she wasn't totally exhausted yet. So Luna gathered the last bit of her aura too her and dropped off the side of the building. She caught a window sill, then a ridge, and then she finally made it back to the ground.

"Made it...!" Luna nodded to herself. "Right, now just gotta..." She looked around. "Get home..."

"Uh oh..."

In her rush to get away from Rachel, Luna had completely lost track of where she was. She looked around for any sort of land mark, but couldn't find anything she recognized.

Short of retracing her steps all the way back to the place where she' ran into Rachel, which would take at least an hour now that she was out of aura, Luna really had no idea how to get back home.

And if Cinder came back before her...

Out of options, Luna turned around and looked at the store she'd been on top of. She squinted at the big bronze sign above the storefront.

"Tuk-son's... book ... trade..." She read. "Maybe someone in there can help?" Shrugging Luna pushed open the door and walked inside.

Bing*

Tukson turned around as the door chimed open once more, letting in another potential customer. "Welcome to Tukson's book trade." He said with a congenial smile "Home to every book under the... sun..."

Standing inside his shop was a little tiger faunes girl, probably eight or nine years old at most. She was dressed in a pair of jean shorts and a black tank top. Tukson watched her, slightly non-pulsed, as she waved back at him.

"Hi!" She said. "I'm Luna, and uh, sorry to bother you Mr. Tukson, but I'm kinda lost..."

Tukson nodded, "Wandered away from your parents did yah kid?" He asked.

"Nuh uh." Luna said, shaking her head."I was taking a walk and... I forgot how to get back home."

"Really?" Luna nodded sheepishly. Tukson laughed and moved over to the counter. "Alright then kid, I'll help you find your way home. Where do you live again?"

"Umm." Tukson watch curiously as the girl pulled out a scroll. A pretty new model if he guessed right, certainly looked better than his beat up old one. "Two twenty six... West Chester Street..." She looked back to him. "Do you know where that is?"

Tukson stroked his chin. "Not off the top of my head... I'll get some directions and grab my keys. Give me a second kid, feel free to look around."

Luna nodded as Tukson vanished into the back room. With a small huff she started wander around the shop, more taking in the feeling of the place than paying attention to any of the books in particular. As she reached the back of the shop Luna caught sight of another girl, only a few years older than her, sitting against the wall with a big book in her hands.

Smiling Luna skipped over, "Hi there. You have really pretty ears."

She was of course, talking about the cute cat ears which poked out of the top of the other girls long black hair. They twitched once as the girl turned to look at Luna, a surprised look on her face.

"Um... thank you? You too"

"You're welcome! And thanks I'm Luna by the way. It's nice to meet you."

"Ah. I'm Blake."

"So what are you reading?"

Blake looked down at the book in her hands and then back up to Luna. "It's... a book about a the... human-faunus war..."

Luna scrunched her eyes in confusion. "Oh... Isn't that bad?"

Blake sighed. She guessed it was too much to think a child this young would know anything about the war. She only knew about it at all because her parents were open about it.

"Yeah." She said. "It was pretty bad."

Luna sighed. "People don't really get along that well do they? ... I don't like it"

"Uh... yeah." Blake was a bit caught off guard by the surprisingly mature statement. "People don't get along." She said, putting the book down. "Especially when one side doesn't even want to admit that the other side is made up of people at all."

"That sounds really bad."

There was a bang from counter. "Hey, kid!" Tukson called. "Where'd you get off to?"

"Oh, I better go." Luna smiled at Blake as she walked away. "It was nice meeting you Blake!"

"...You too Luna." The older girl replied. She vanished from sight as Luna made her way back to the counter.

"Ready to go kid?" Tukson asked.

"Yeah!" Luna said. "But uh... before that..." She folded her arms behind her back. "Do you have any books on dragons?"


	3. Chapter 3

"Oh! What about this one!"

Blake sighed, doing her best to hide the small smile that was growing ever larger as Luna chattered on. Still, despite the air of indifference that she was attempting to project, she looked at the picture Luna had pointed out in her book of weapons.

Recently Luna had gained a interest in weapons, ever since she watch some anime named after a cleaning agent.

"I don't think using a weapon twice your height would be very effective." Blake said.

"Well I'd get a smaller one then!" Luna said with a smile.

"A waste of resources. You'd have to get new ones made as you grew... though that might not be a problem for you..."

"Hey! I'll be tall one day, just you watch!"

"Of course you will..." Blake said, turning back to her own book.

"Hmph." Luna sat in sullen silence for a few moments before perking up and shoving her small book back towards Blake. "Well which one do you like then?"

Blake rolled her eyes. "Why do you care so much about weapons anyway." She groused, but at Luna's insistence she flipped through the pages illustrating the some of the more memorable weapon types wielded by hunters and huntresses.

"I like this one."

Luna snatched the book back and looked at Blake's choice. "Ooooo! A ... ka...tana...? Oh It folds too! I didn't know people could make swords go bendy bendy like that..."

"That's surprising, considering that your favorite weapon so far is the collapsible battle ax."

"That's different." Luna said. "The axes didn't bend, they just snapped back into the handle, like..."

"A sliding door?"

"Yeah! Thanks Blake."

"You're welcome."

With that Luna turned back to her book. She'd worked through most of the contents already, memorizing the stats of every weapon as she went. In a few days she'd finish the book and be begging Tukson for another one. Not that he minded providing Luna with questionable litterature for children. Somehow her cuteness factor turned a psychopathic obsession with combat into an adorable character trait.

That, and Luna actually payed for books, unlike Blake who just devoured them and put them back on the shelves.

"You two okay back there?" Tukson called from the other side of the shop. There sensitive ears picked out the smooth sound of leather sliding against leather as Tukson shelved some of his older books.

"We're fine!" Luna called back cheerily.

Blake flipped a page in her book silently and sighed quietly as Luna began humming tunelessly to herself.

Ping!*

Both girls glanced in the direction of the door as the bell rang.

"Welcome to Tukson's book trade." Came the man's familiar catch phrase. "Home to every book under the sun."

There was a rustle of cloth as door thunked shut a moment later. "Really? This place?" A low feminine voice replied. Luna stiffened slightly, eyes growing wide. "Well, it is remarkable cozy, I can see why she likes it here..."

Blake watched as Luna stood and, tucking her book under one arm, made her way to the front of the store. After a moment, Blake got up and trailed behind her.

Standing in the front of the store was a young woman in a flowing crimson dress. She glanced around lazily, taking in the dusty shelves and mountains of books without really paying them any attention at all. Luna came to a stop in front of her.

"... Hi Cinder..." She said sheepishly. Blake could picture the small, winsome smile she would wear as she looked up at the woman.

"So this is where you've been going Luna?" Cinder asked.

"Yeah..."

"Hmm." Cinder ruffled Luna's hair and ears absentmindedly. "I trust she hasn't been giving you any trouble?" The woman asked Tukson.

"Ah- No ma'am. She just stops by to take a look at some of my books."

Cinder looked over to were Blake stood, half hidden behind a shelf. She smirked. "And to play with her new friend I assume."

Luna nodded. "I... um you see..."

"Shhh." Cinder cut Luna off. "No need to apologize or make excuses. I'm glad to see you've been keeping yourself well occupied." She looked back over at Blake. "And before you ask, yes your new friend can come visit on your birthday. That's what you were planning on asking me yes?"

"wuh?" Cinder just gave the girl a look. "Yay!!! Thank you Cinder!" Luna jumped up and hugged the woman "Thank you, thank you."

With a much put upon sigh, Cinder extracted herself from the hug and set Luna back on the floor. "Calm down Luna." She said, before turning back to Tukson. "She's payed for all of those books that have been appearing in her room?"

"Of course." He replied, a small grin on his face. "Though, when I opened my shop I never though one of my best customers would be a little girl."

Cinder smiled mysteriously. "She defies expectations." She said, holding out her hand to Luna. The little girl took it with a big smile. "Shall we go then? You still have tasks to complete."

"Yeah!" Lunawaved over her shoulder as they left the shop. "See you later Blake!"

Blake waved once. "Bye Luna." When the door thunked shut she and Tukson shared a glance.

Then next day Luna showed up at the shop later than usual with a tired smile on her face. "I... just had to do some stuff before... Cinder let me come." She murmured to Blake before plopping down in her favorite corner and leaning into the older girl.

"Um... Luna, what are you doing?"

"I'm sleepy." She said, grabbing Blake's arm and snuggling even closer like a kitten to its mother.

"Mmmm."

Blake sighed. "... Yesterday, you said something about a birthday party?"

"Oh! right..." Luna sat up, before a massive yawn overtook her. She blinked the tears from her eyes as she rested her head on Blake's shoulder again. "Can you... come over on... the day after tomorrow?"

"I should be able to."

"Great... good night Blake."

"It's two in the afternoon Luna."

"Yeah... the middle of the night."

Blake sighed again before grabbing her book. If she knew Luna at all, she'd be back up on her feet and zipping around the room in twenty minutes or so. Until then Blake was content to read her book and let Luna use her as an impromptu pillow.

It was getting colder as autumn approached, and the little tiger faunes was pleasantly warm.

Luna still hadn't woke up when Tukson came back to check on them. After taking in the scene he just handed Blake another book so she wouldn't have to move after finishing her first one. "Are you planning to go the rally today?" He asked quietly.

Blake glanced away. "Yeah... I was thinking about inviting Luna along..."

Tukson frowned. "Are you sure about that Blake?" He said. "I know she's your friend. But she's still a kid."

"I know... and that's why I want to bring her." Blake said. "I want to show her what we're fighting for to show her she doesn't have to regret what she is."

"It's a good idea in concept Blake." Tukson said. "It's just that in real life things rarely work out that neatly." Blake didn't say anything. "It's your choice if you want to ask her to come along, but just remember that her being there could cause a lot of concern ."

"I know that!"

Tukson shrugged again and moved around the shelf, leaving the two girls behind.

Blake huffed quietly as she returned to reading, but the book couldn't distract her from her thoughts.

Tukson was right, bringing Luna along to the rally would open the door to all sorts of problems. The other faunus might want her to leave, they might shame Tukson for bringing a child or the police might notice her and use Luna's presence as a reason to arrest Tukson for involving a child, or Cinder might show up and do god knows what. Even off the top of her head it was easy for Blake to see how all of these things might happen. Luna was a good person, and Blake knew she didn't care if someone was a human or a faunus.

Luna shifted at Blake's side "You're thinking really hard Blake." She said. "What's up?"

"Huh?" Blake glanced over to the younger girl. "Oh, you're awake now?"

"Yep!" Luna smiled, "You make a great pillow!"

Blake rolled her eyes. "That's heart warming."

"Yeah." Luna said. "So why were you thinking so hard Blake? Your ears are red."

"Wha-?" Blake's hands snapped up to touch her ears. Well, they were a little warm but-

Luna giggled. "Made you look!"

Blake blinked once. "That... was surprisingly cunning."

"Huh?"

"Never mind." Blake closed the book and set it to the side. "Luna, I... do you have to be home soon?"

"Huh?" Luna blinked once. "No, Cinder said I don't have to be home until dinner since I got all my other stuff done already." She looked a bit put out at that though. "It's cause she's busy, so she won't be there either..."

"I see." Blake said. "Um, Luna. Tukson and I have somewhere to go soon."

"Really? Where?"

"To... a faunus rights rally. And I was wondering if you, maybe, wanted to come with us."

"Oh, okay... " Luna nodded once. "What's a rally?"

Blake sighed. By the looks of it she had a lot of explaining to do.

"You know that faunus... that we, aren't really treated well by most people right?"

Luna nodded, frowning sadly in a way that made her eyes shimmer dully.

"A rally is what we do to protest- to disagree -with the people who treat us poorly. We all meet up in one place, and we march around the city letting everyone know that we don't appreciate being treated like animals." Blake glared off into the distance, her hand clenching into a fist.

"I'll definitely go then!" Luna said.

"Really?"

"Yeah! You're my friend. I don't like people being mean to you!"

Blake smiled at that. "Thanks Luna." She said. "Just remember to stay close to Tukson and me the whole time okay?."

Luna nodded. "Okay. When do we leave?"

"Right now actually." Tukson's voice called as he rounded the shelves. "It's almost three, so if we want to be there on time we should go." He gave Luna a brief glance. "I'm still not sold on the idea of bringing you along... But you're a good kid, just stay with Blake and keep your nose clean."

Lunatilted her head sideways. "But... why would I need to wash my face?"

Tukson chuckled. "It means stay out of trouble, kid. Now let's go, you can leave your books and heavier things here. We'll be walking for a while so you probably won't want to carry them."

"Okie dokie!" Tukson put all of their stuff in a small safe behind the counter and locked the door to the shop behind them.

The three walked down quiet streets. Usually, in a situation like this Luna would be running around: looking at street signs, saying hi to strangers, that sort of thing. But the solemn air around Tukson and Blake served to mute her enthusiasm. She could tell that this 'rally' thing was going to be very serious, and that she maybe shouldn't even be there. So she wouldn't give the other faunus a reason to tell her to leave by acting childish.

The sun still high when they made it to the meeting place, a small square off one of Vale's larger plaza's. There were humans in the shops around the edges and just passing through, but they were offset by the truly massive numbers of faunus that filled the square.

Until then, Luna had never realized how few other faunus she'd seen in her life, despite Vale having one of the larger percentage population of them. Occationally she would catch a glimpse of one or two walking down the street, or in a restaurant, but there were always far more humans around. Now, the situation was inverted.

She watched in awe as people, with so many different animal characteristics, mingled in the square. She watched a man wolf ears playfully put one with tusks into a head lock. A woman with scales along her neck was talking with two others with furry ears like hers, Luna felt at home here surrounded by her own kind.

"Hey Luna."

"Huh?" Luna looked back at Tukson. He seemed... different now, indomitable in every action, like a glacier.

Like the weight of pretending to be human had been lifted off his shoulders.

"Don't get separated from us okay?"

"Oh, yeah." She picked up her stride as Tukson and Blake moved deeper into the crowd. Still she couldn't keep her eyes to herself as she passed them.

Really, apart from the obvious animal characteristics, faunus didn't look that different from humans, but how they moved was just a world apart.

Subconsciously, Luna started trying to mimic them: smooth out a stride here, eliminate a needless motion there. She was concentrating so hard she almost bumped into Tukson's leg when he drew to a stop.

"What's a kid doing here?" The man, a rabbit faunus, in front of Tukson asked. All of a sudden all of the nearby people were looking at her. She could feel their eyes sweep across her. The looks were curious, and some were cold, but at least none were outright hostile.

A giant of a man with red hair and black horns walked over and patted Tukson on the back he was a bull faunes from what Luna saw "starting them of early I see Tukson you truly are one of use HA HA HA!!!" he ended with a hearty laugh.

"Sure whatever you say old friend" Tukson responded

"Alright I'll see you after the rally" and with that everybody stopped looking at Luna and the giant bull faunes walked away. She didn't really mind, it meant she could watch them without it being weird or anything. She made sure to stay next to Blake and Tukson as more and more faunus gathered in the square.

About five minutes after that several faunus went around distributing banners and signs. Blake had hers down, a small piece of colored paper on a meter stick that she'd brought with her when they'd left the book store. A snake faunus handed Luna an equally small sign, which she excepted with a big bow and grateful smile "what a sweet girl" said the snake faunes as she went back to handing out signs

Over towards the edge of the crowd Luna saw a group of older looking faunus talking with a young, silver haired man. The rest of the faunus seemed to regard him with a sort of grudging respect. And he seemed to treat them with equal, if not greater, consideration.

Over towards the edge of the crowd Luna saw a group of older looking faunus talking with a young, silver haired man. The rest of the faunus seemed to regard him with a sort of grudging respect. And he seemed to treat them with equal, if not greater, consideration.

"That's Ozpin." Tukson murmured, at her side. "He's been Vale's unofficial link between the White Fang and the government for a few years now. Been trying to push our case inside the government and he's always been on our side when it came down to it. Heard he just got made headmaster of Beacon Academy, where they train hunters."

"Really?" Luna asked. That must be why he looked so distinguished, just like the faunus she realized.

Luna didn't understand why but that name and the way the man looked sent shivers down her spine.

The man known as Ozpin met eyes with Luna, brown meeting crimson a smirk stretched onto Ozpin's face, before Luna's attention went back to Tukson.

"Yeah." Tukson said. Then another group of faunus moved over to where Ozpin stood, blocking the man from their sight. "He usually doesn't come to the rallys though, he might be asking us to postpone it..."

"But I thought you said he was on your side. Why would he ask you to stop then?"

"From what I've heard from my friends, he's one who always looks at the bigger picture. Maybe he thinks protesting today will hurt us."

"But sometimes you just can't wait anymore." Blake interjected. "Sometimes, playing the long game just doesn't pay off when you need it to. And that's why we're protesting today, no matter what."

Luna looked back and forth between the two of them but sided with Blake. "Yeah!!!"

Tukson sighed. "Shnee dust company opened up a new factory recently. They hire a lot of faunus and usually treat them poorly. That's what we're marching for today."

"Oh..." This was all more than a bit confusing for Luna, she was only a kid after all, but she was doing her best to stay focused. In any case, she could tell this was really important to her friends, so she would act the part even if she didn't get everything that was happening.

The quiet conversations continued for a few more minutes before an middle aged lion faunus climbed up on a statue in the middle of the square, waving his arms once to gather everyone's attention.

"Looks like we're starting." Tukson murmured.

"Friends!" The lion shouted. His voice was deep, resonant, carrying through the air like the beating of a drum. He began giving a speech, reminding all of them why they were there. To oppose the injustices of society, to show the rest of Vale that they had a voice, and they would be heard.

The Faunus around Luna nodded and cheered in time with his words, she saw smiles when he talked about a better future, even though she caught a glimpse of Ozpin, talking to people by the gate.

And then they marched.

There had to have been over a thousand of them. Luna couldn't even see the edges of the crowd after they started walking, with more and more faunus joining in with each moment.

Cheers and chants sprang up at random through the crowd, but in the middle of the press of bodies she could barely make out one voice from the next.

By her side Blake raised up her sign proudly, waving it with determination as she joined in with all of the chants. She probably knew all the words by heart, and as time went on Luna began to pick up on the words as well, cheering and smiling as the march continued.

The air sparked with energy, Luna could feel it, the aura in the air, the power. So many people, all united in a common cause.

Though Luna didn't know it, by the time the Rally reached the factory there were over five thousand faunus marching. So many that they filled entire streets, stopping traffic and drawing countless eyes.

They reached the factory, intent on walking right up to the factory itself, so everyone would know exactly what the White Fang was about.

They were stopped at the gates.

Luna, now sitting atop Tukson's shoulders and waving her banner with all the energy in her eight year old body, saw a military barricade set up at the entrance to the grounds. Men in silver and blue armor, at least fifty of them, stood in a phalanx, riot shields out, dust rifles at the ready.

She watched as one held up a megaphone and shouted something at the crowd. Boos and jeers were the only response. The mass of faunus pressed forward, just a few scant feet away from the barricade. The soldiers tensed, but neither side was making the first move.

The faunus quieted slightly, sliding from chants to murmurs as they eyed the soldiers warily.

"Tukson..." Luna asked nervously, "What's going on...?" She didn't like this new feeling in the air.

"Damn Shnee company hired mercs from Atlas." He growled out. "They're trying to get us to leave, but the hell that's gonna happen!"

The murmuring of the crowd grew larger, rippling throughout the mass of men and women. Luna shivered with anticipation.

"Yeah!" She pointed her sign at the barricade like a lance, "Out of the way!" She shouted at them "For justice!"

Her battle cry was taken up by those around her. "Jus-tice! Jus-tice! Jus-tice!" It spread through the rally, like a blaze. One of the soldiers seemed to notice Luna, he gestured to the man with the megaphone, pointing out the tiger faunes child among the masses.

Even as the chanting of the rally grew louder, the commander started speaking frantically into his scroll. After a moment of listening, he nodded once, turning his attention back to the almost mob in front of him.

They were nearly at the breaking point, Luna's chant was like a small bit of snow, breaking free at the very top of a mountain. It gained momentum with each passing moment, and, if they waited, the guards would be facing an avalanche.

The commander tossed the microphone aside and cupped is lips. Even though she couldn't hear him in the slightest, Luna could read the terrifying word as it tore from his lips.

"FIRE!"

She screamed as the dust guns roared. Tear gas grenades broke over the crowd, causing nearly every faunus to stagger, but they rallyed in a heartbeat. They charged the barricade.

The rifles couldn't be using live dust rounds, they couldn't! Luna was forced to watch, swept up in the tide as the mob crashed into the barricade, was forced back by fire and sword, only to surge forward again.

There was screaming and shouting and tearing and turning and pushing and pulling.

Blake was out of sight, it was only Tukson's tight grip that kept Luna safe from being trampled.

"You have to get out of here!" Tukson shouted at her. His height gave him an advantage, he spotted a clear ally off to the side. "I'm going to throw you over there!" He pointed. "Can you make it?"

Luna stopped her trembling and nodded. She could do that distance by herself. Tensing, she gathered her aura. "Now!" He shouted, and she flew coating herself in lightning.

The shouting and screaming only grew louder as Luna passed overhead, the sound of gunfire long since drowned out by the mob. She tucked and rolled, coming to a stop with nary a hair out of place, but back in the street things were only growing even worse.

The faunus had nearly broken through the barricade, she made out the glint of steel armor on the ground and winced as stomping feet and battered bodies obscured it. But there were more guards now, coming in from the behind and attacking the mob from both sides.

For a moment it looked like it could go either way. The mercenaries had tactics and equipment on their side, but the mob had pure numbers. Even against a few hundred soldiers, the might of five thousand faunus was no laughing matter.

Then the bullheads broke the skyline. Luna watched in horror as two jets flew over the crowd, dropping tear gas and suppressing fire before circling back. The mob rippled beneath the onslaught, like a pond in the rain.

Caught between a hammer and an anvil, the faunus did the only thing they could, they broke.

The faunus scattered into the alleys, and Luna was swept up with the tide. She was forced to use her lightning coat almost constantly just to keep from getting trampled. But before she could disappear, the group she was fleeing with ran into another platoon of mercenaries.

In the clash that followed, Luna slid through the cracks, tears streaming down her face as she looked back, and saw the woman who had handed her the banner drop to the ground, clutching at her chest as her pristine white sweater slowly darkened. In her other hand she held something wet and red, the large gaping wound at a fallen guards throat revealed just what.

Luna ran.

She ran through twisting ally ways and darkening streets. She ran past startled passerby and angry cops besides. She didn't know where she was going, all she knew was the nightmare behind her. And so she ran, without time or direction. She ran till her energy was almost completely spent.

In a distant alley, she collapsed against the cool metal of a dumpster and tried vainly to stop her tears.

She only had a few moments of stillness before the sound of footsteps caught up to her.

"Let go!" A young voice called. Blake! There was a harsh crack, then a man spoke.

"Shut it, kitty." He said. "God damnit, we better be payed overtime for this, hunting fucking strays."

"Just lay off." Another voice said. "We'll just sweep this ally and then get this one back to base." The other grunted in acknowledgement.

"You sure this ones the old man was lookin for?" the first one asked

"I don't give a shit let's grab her and go" the second one replied angrily.

By now Luna could see them. Two mercenaries, one of them dragging a barely conscious Blake by her wrist as they walked down the ally. For now the shadows protected her, but there was nowhere for her to hide. They'd notice her in just a few more steps.

And they were going to kidnap Blake too. Luna couldn't run away.

With a quick jerk of her wrist, she tore off the small necklace she was wearing. On the end of the chain was a small yellow dust crystal, a gift from Cinder. She grasped it in between her hands and proceeded to eat it as she thought.

"Please work..."

"Hey, what-"

Luna squeezed her hands tightly. Lighting erupted from her body as her eyes leaked lightning, jumping into a punch into the nearest guard and sending him flying backwards.

Even as the second one turned in surprise Luna was moving, she passed him, snatching the dust rifle from his loose grip. She almost crashed into the wall herself instead of jumping off of it. But she managed, landing on top of the dumpster and crushing the gun growling at both mercenaries.

"Holy shit!" The first merc was still down and the second was looking around frantically, trying to figure out where the lighting had come from, and why a little girl dressed in black was so god damn terrifying.

"LEAVE!!!..." Luna said softly as the first merc pushed himself to his feet. Thankfully the second dust rifle was out of reach.

"What the hell are you?"

"Hey, little girl, you better put that down before you hurt yourself." With a casual toss the man sent Blake tumbling across the alleyway. Luna began to tremble with rage.

"LEAVE. NOW." She said again.

Reinforcements began arriving guns drawn aiming at the lightning leaking Luna.

"I SAID LEAVE!!!!"

"Shut up you fucking brat!" The merc grabbed another merc's gun tacking aim.

"RARRRHH Luna began sucking in the air getting ready "LIGHTNING, DRAGONS, ROAR" a burst of yellow energy burst from Luna's mouth hitting all the the merc's they made no movement after being struck

she didn't spare them a second glance before running over to Blake's side.

She almost collapsed on the way there from aura depletion, but she made it to her friend's side.

"Blake!" Luna grabbed Blake's shoulders, shaking weakly. "Blake! Are you okay?"

"... Luna...?" the Faunus muttered, her eyes blinking in and out of focus. "What...?"

"Blake!" Luna tried to pull her friend into a hug.

"Over here!" Several dark figures poured into the alley. One was looking at Blake, another was checking the Mercenaries.

"Thank god. She's fine, just got knocked around a bit."

"Looks like someone did us a favor." Someone spat on the mercenaries.

"There's another one."

"She's a kid."

Suddenly Luna wasn't on the ground anymore. Some one had picked her up and was carrying her away

Luna struggled weakly, legs kicking out into empty air, hands clutching desperately at the figure slowly carrying her away. "Please..." She whispered. "Please..."

The man said nothing. Black spots slowly began to obscure Luna's vision eating that crystal drained her energy to quick, and she could feel herself slowly slipping away. Her struggles grew weaker and weaker until...

She couldn't... even move... anymore. Crimson eyes tracked her own hands as they fell down to her sides.

Shade... was right then... Luna really was worthless...

"Adam wait...!"

Blake... what?

The grip loosened, but barely as the figure was still moving.

"She's my friend, Adam! She saved me from them!"

"What?"

Silence for a few seconds. Luna was held in limbo, on the border of consciousness. Then: "You heard her Adam. Put the girl down."

The hold vanished, and Luna was put onto the pavement, collapsing.Luna drifted between consciousness and unconsciousness She was shivering violently energy drain can have nasty effects.

Around her, voices continued talking, though she didn't have the energy to listen.

"We have to keep moving, more will be here soon."

"What about them."

A snort. "No need to worry about them anymore, bastards."

"Let's go then, back to base. Arthur should have already made it."

"Wait."

"Adam we don't have time damnit!"

Someone grabbed Luna around the waist, hoisting her up. "We're taking her with us. She can tell her story to Arthur and we'll see if he knows how she did this."

"Whatever, just go!"

Luna hung, limp in the man's grasp, as the pavement rushed by beneath her. She felt more than saw her captors taking sharp turns and narrow roads. She didn't have the strength to move anymore, even when they came to a stop and entered a small building. Her captor bumped Luna's shoulder on the door frame as the entered.

The room was warm, and in the moment of stillness, Luna's eyes slowly drifted closed.

"- Blake is vouching for her Adam. What more evidence do you need?"

Luna awoke to the sound of voices.

"I still don't like it. She's a kid and she caused that level of destruction we could use her."

"She's a child!"

"Well that hasn't stopped them now has it!?"

Slowly, Luna opened her eyes. She was sitting in a wooden chair. In front of her, the red headed man, Adam?, was arguing with the lion faunus from the rally.

"That doesn't matter." The lion said. "We have to be better than them. We have to prove that we aren't animals."

It sounded like a worn out argument. Almost as worn out as the faunus looked when he gave it.

"And that's been helping us so much, hasn't it old man?" There were others in the room as well.

They were keeping silent but even Luna could tell that they were on Adam's side. "Well I'm fucking done with it. If they're expecting animals, I say we give them the savage beasts that they're so fucking afraid of."

"That won't help anything Adam."

"If they'll never respect us, then at least they will fear us."

The lion faunus just looked so tired, he glanced over at Luna and sighed. "Perhaps..." He said. "But first I would like to hear what you have to say, child."

Luna shrank back into her chair. "Me?"

The man nodded. "We know that you saved Blake, and for that you have my deepest thanks. I won't question if you managed to defeat two fully grown men on your own or if you had some help-"

Adam started to say something, but he was silenced with a sharp glare. "-but, I would like to know why you did it."

Luna blinked, frowning in confusion. "Why... I saved Blake?"

"Yes."

"She's my friend..."

The men and women around the room shared glances, but the lion faunus pushed onward.

"That is all? You protected her just because she was your friend?"

"Well... yeah." Luna said. "I couldn't just leave her." To her it was just the simplest thing in the world. Why were they asking her to explain it?

The man smiled. It was a small thing, but it looks so very bright.

"Thank you child."

Luna nodded. He was about to turn when she shook her head once "I- I'm sorry." She whispered.

"That won't help anything Adam."

"If they'll never respect us, then at least they will fear us."

The lion faunus just looked so tired, he glanced over at Luna and sighed. "Perhaps..." He said. "But first I would like to hear what you have to say, child."

Luna shrank back into her chair. "Me?"

The man nodded. "We know that you saved Blake, and for that you have my deepest thanks. I won't question if you managed to defeat all those fully grown men on your own or if you had some help-" Adam started to say something, but he was silenced with a sharp glare. "-but, I would like to know why you did it."

Luna blinked, frowning in confusion. "Why... I saved Blake?"

"Yes."

"She's my friend..."

The men and women around the room shared glances, but the lion faunus pushed onward.

"That is all? You protected her just because she was your friend?"

"Well... yeah." Luna said. "I couldn't just leave her." To her it was just the simplest thing in the world.

Why were they asking her to explain it?

The man smiled. It was a small thing, but it looks so very bright.

"Thank you child."

Luna nodded. He was about to turn when she shook her head once "Wh-why." She whispered.

"Oh?"

She clenched her fists at sides. "Why were those humans so awful..." She scrunched her eyes shut, trying to prevent tears from running down her cheeks. The massacre flashed across her eyes. So much red. "They all deserve to burn." Her statement was backed up as her body was engulfed in fire.

The man pulled away his hand until the flames subsided "There there, child." The man whispered. He placed a comforting hand on Luna's shoulder. "You saved someone's life tonight. Let that be enough for now." No one else moved as Luna slowly spent her tears. Last vestiges of energy gone, she drifted off to sleep in the chair once more.

With a sigh Arthur turned back to the rest of the room. There was new determination in his eyes, new life. "This is why we cannot just be savage beasts." He said, gesturing at the little girl. "These innocents, who have pure hearts and strong convictions. They will not be corrupted in the fires of war as long as I draw breath, but only if we prove to everyone they do not deserve such a fate."

Not even Adam dared to speak.

"This child defeated many fully grown men to save one of our own. We would not be animals if we repayed that kindness with senseless bloodshed, we would be monsters." He sighed, place both hands on the wooden table in the middle of the room. "But all the same," He said. "Adam is right when he says we cannot allow things to continue as they are."

"If nothing else, there must be justice."


	4. Chapter4

After the rally, Tukson ended up finding Luna and bringing her home. Luna only remembered brief bits. Cinder being furious with both Schnee Dust Company and the White Fang, for one. Her protectiveness made Luna warm inside. The next days were spent recovering from her extreme exhaustion, her little body couldn't handle the strain of all the extra energy, until her birthday finally rolled around.

Tukson and Blake showed up at the penthouse a little after nine.

"I'm surprised you made it, actually." Cinder said as Tukson helped Blake take a seat on the couch.

Tukson shrugged "I felt they both could use a friend right now." He said.

"Indeed." Cinder said. She'd noticed Luna's unusual lack of energy in the last two days. The girl was still peppy, but just more... muted recently. "I'll bring her back to the book store when they're done."

"Thanks."

After the man left, Cinder turned her full attention to the two little girls sitting on the couch. The cat faunus... Blake, kept glancing at Cinder warily. She could see how the girl had placed herself so that she could keep an eye on Cinder no matter where she was in the room.

Cinder found it far more telling that, by doing so, Blake had left Luna in a blind spot.

Still, it wouldn't do to stifle the two of them right now. She had her own business to attend to in the wake of the massacre.

"I'll be back in a bit Luna." She said. "Your friend is welcome to stay for dinner, and feel free to show her the training room if you're so inclined."

Luna nodded once and gave Cinder a small smile. "M'kay."

Alone at last, Luna and Blake looked at each other awkwardly.

Blake took in her younger friend's appearance. She looked tired, dark circles starting to form under her eyes. The boundless energy she usually had was clearly somewhere else at the moment. Luna's face was pale. At the sight of them Blake felt slightly guilty.

Blake?"

She looked over at the wall. "It's not important." She murmured. Luna gave her a look. "Well… I mean are you okay"

Luna gave a weak smile and nodded "Yeah I'm just tired haven't had to use that much energy…" Luna paused to think "we'll ever now that I think of it"

"Still..."

Luna reached out and patted Blake on the head. "I'm okay Blake. Thanks for worrying about me though." She said. Blake sighed and lowered her head slightly, allowing Luna to 'pet' her for a moment, from personal experience Luna knew a good scratch behind the ears always felt good . Then she pulled away, a light blush on her cheeks.

"I, uh, brought some presents." She said, reaching into the small bag she'd brought, Blake pulled out two wrapped gifts. One was pristine, while the other had more tape than wrapping paper.

"That one's from Tukson." Blake said.

"Yay!" Luna took them both and set them on the ottoman atop a large present, presumably from Cinder. "Thanks Blake."

The awkward silence came back for a moment as Luna sat back down.

"Ummm, are you doing okay Blake?" Luna asked. "I shouldn't have touched your head..."

"It's fine. The bandages are mostly for show now."

"That's good."

"So when are you planning to open your presents?"

Luna brightened. "Not until Cinder gets back." She said. "And someone's going to bring a huge cake!"

"You mean Cinder's going to bring a cake?"

"Psh, maybe." Luna said, crossing her arms proudly. "It's Cinder so who knows."

Blake smirked. "You have a point there."

The girls just talked for a while after that, working through the awkwardness and sorrow that still lingered after the rally. Neither had been brave enough to watch the news reports on the next day, but even just from walking around they could see that faunus were being treated even worse than before.

"Why don't they understand?" Blake asked at one point. "Why do they all just accept whatever bullshit is spoon fed to them by the media!?"

Luna looked down at the ground. "I- I..."

Blake let out a big breath. "No... that was unnecessary. I'm sorry Luna."

"It's... nothing Blake." Luna said, trying for a smile. "Don't worry about it."

"Still I shouldn't-"

Luna sighed and Blake winced. A girl as happy and go lucky as Luna should never make a sound like that.

"So Cinder trains you?" Blake asked trying to change the topic. As a faunus herself, she'd had some training of her own, mostly in self defense and often with far too much real life experience. But she couldn't really see Luna undergoing the same. The girl was far too rambunctious to have been trained with any sort of discipline.

"Umm, kinda?" Luna said. "She's out a lot. So mostly it's just me..."

Blake didn't know quite what to make of that.

Of course, Luna obviously wasn't training now. She was far to drained to do that but between her aura and her own natural recovery speed, her energy was almost fully recovered , but still too drained to do any sort of exercise.

Blake was much the same. Her concussion had left her painfully disoriented (especially for a cat). And even though she could walk in a straight line now she was still prone to chronic headaches and nausea.

In the end they continued enjoying the comfort of the couch and spent more time talking about unimportant things. Somehow, Blake ended up laying back against the arm of the couch with Luna nestled in between her legs.

Blake decided it was a good thing that Luna was so short, it let Blake rest her chin on top of Luna's head.

Mmmm, you're really comfy Blake." Luna murmured.

"Hah..." Blake's eyelids fluttered once as she tried to stay awake. Luna was like a big black blanket, and she was already tired from staying awake for so long. "I..."

Blake decided to just close her eyes for a moment. The light was a bit too much. She needed to rest her eyes, just for one second.

The second after she was asleep.

Upon discovering that her friend ha passed out between words, and that said friend had trapped her in a rather tight hug, Luna did the intelligent thing and drifted off right after, it was inevitable anyway.

Cinder was almost surprised when she walked into the room and saw both girls practically wrapped around each other. on the couch If they didn't look criminally adorable like that, Luna leaning back into Blake, who had her arms crossed around Luna's stomach, she almost would have laughed at the sheer adorablility of it.

Cinder wouldn't say that she cared for Blake overly so but she made Luna happy so she appreciated her and her these too were sleeping together like sisters.

She decided not to wake them, even though the cake had just arrived. The two were completely exhausted no doubt.

But this was just to good to pass up. Pulling out her scroll, Cinder snapped a quick picture of the scene. Maybe it would come in handy later, but if nothing else it was still impossibly cute.

Unsurprisingly, Luna woke up first, being both more energetic naturally and lacking the head injury. She came to slowly, squirming slightly in an effort to get closer to that lovely piece of warmth that was wrapped around her. After a while she opened her eyes and yawned.

"Good morning, my little starlight."

Luna's eyes snapped open. She would have jumped too if not for Blake's arms holding her in place.

"S-s-Cinder?"

Cinder smirked. "Enjoy your nap?"

Luna nodded hastily, even as she began squirming, to no avail, to get out of Blake's possessive grasp.

Said cat faunus was still happily asleep. She was in the sun, there's no waking up that.

But Luna's attention was on something else.

"W-what did you call me?" Luna's eyes were wide and vulnerable as she asked that question. The name was to close to home, to close to memories that Luna did not want to unearth. Why? Why on Remnant would Cinder call Luna that.

It was almost exactly the same as what her mother used to call her when she was barely more than a toddler.

"My little starlight?"

'My little moon. A voice from the distant past echoed in Luna's head. It brought with it memories of warmth and joy, but also much sadness and pain.

Luna shivered.

Cinder woman laughed softly as she stood and moved over to where Luna lay, still trapped, on the couch. "That's what you are, isn't it?" Cinder teased. "My precious little moonshine."

'My helpful little moon ray.' The memories whispered.

Luna scrunched her eyes shut. Her brothers pet name for her, little moon, little moon ray. It had been so long since anyone had called Luna something precious or beautiful. But it had been even longer since anyone had called Luna 'mine'.

"Do you not like it?"

Luna shook her head. "I... call me that again... please?" Her crimson eyes flashed with unrestrained need.

Cinder smiled, perfect. "Come here." She said, opening her arms. "My little starlight."

Somehow Luna escaped from Blake's grasp, leaving only a thin burst of sparks behind. She almost cried as Cinder's arms closed around her, holding her with a fierce possessiveness that threatened to swallow Luna whole.

Cinder cooed softly in her ear. "Good girl..."

"Cin…Cinder ca…can I call yo..you Mommy"

Cinder was taken aback by this, she didn't realise Luna cared for her that much, a warm smile spread across her face "yes my precious little starlight, yes you can"

"Thank you mommy thank you"

That was when Blake finally woke. Unlike Luna, who slowly transitioned from sleeping to drowsing to finally waking. Blake's eyes opened right away, all lingering traces of tiredness vanishing as her body switched gears.

She awoke to what should have been a heartwarming scene, judging from the expression on Cinders face.

For a moment, Blake panicked. She close her eyes, faking sleep as she tried to think. She didn't want to interrupt

This didn't make sense the way Cinder presented herself as someone who held power and though she hide it well she was definitely hiding something.

There was something very, very, wrong at work here. Blake was confused, but more than that, she was afraid.

She had been wary of Cinder. But over all the time Blake had spent with Luna the more she began to trust Cinder still wary but less so then at first.

"Shall we wake up your friend now, little starlight?"

"I don't know..." Luna whispered. "She was really really tired today!"

How did Luna figure that ou- no, focus Blake. Now as not the time.

Yawning, Blake stretched out, arching her back and reaching her arms way above her head.

"Morning Blake!" Luna chirped as Blake sat up and opened her eyes.

"It's the afternoon, Luna." She said, forcing her lips into a small and genuine (she hoped) smile.

"Good afternoon then" said Luna

Blake sighed and stood. "Of course."

Cinder set Luna down, but Blake noticed how the girl made no move to distance herself. She didn't quite know what to make of that, so for the moment she settled on reacting, on not giving anything away.

Cinder smiled. "Now then, I believe it's time for the main event." She gestured to the table, where a small but incredibly intricate looking chocolate cake sat.

"Yay! Cake!" Luna said from where she sat at the table. Blake and Cinder both blinked, glancing back to where Luna had just been. Sparks, neither of them had seen her move and she was just grinning away.

Cinder laughed, and even Blake was forced to grin. "Don't get ahead of yourself."

"Well what are you guys waiting for?" Luna asked.

"Don't forget the cups, little starlight ." Cinder said.

"Oh right!" Luna zipped over to the cabinets, then the fridge. In short order there were three cups on the table along with several different drinks.

"Whaddaya want to drink Blake?"

Blake coughed into her fist. "I'll... I'll have milk."

"Okay!" Luna missed Cinder's secretive smirk and raised brow, but Blake could almost hear the unspoken insult. In a cup or a saucer?

Then the moment passed as Cinder ensured that Luna didn't spill everything. The woman was far too politic to say something like that anyway. Before, Blake might have even brushed off the glance as if it were nothing, but now it was just one more piece of evidence that there was something else to Cinder Fall.

Blake didn't know what to make of it all. She knew there was something up, but she had no evidence other than a fleeting glance and a gut instinct. So for now, she wouldn't do anything. She would be Luna's friend and do her best to repay the energetic, lovable, little girl for all that Luna was.

She let out a breath and refocused on the party just in time to see Cinder quickly plucked a knife from Luna's hands before she could try and cut the cake with it.

"You forgot the candles, little starlight ."

Even Blake was impressed with how Cinder lit the candles with just a touch of her finger. Cinder and Luna both just used their semblances so easily.

"Happy birthday Luna." Blake said.

"Don't forget to make a wish."

"Yeah!" Luna scrunched her eyes shut for a moment, thinking very hard about her wish no doubt, then she blew out the candles.

After that it was just a matter of eating, and somehow Luna managed to pack away more of the cake than Cinder and Blake combined. She was zipping off walls afterwards, literally.

Cinder had to catch her mid zip to stop her from crashing into Blake.

"...Presents?" Blake asked, wondering if remembering her gifts would cause Luna to slow down or speed up even more.

Luna slid to a stop next to the ottoman, wide grin on her face revealing her fangs. "Oh oh oh! I can't believe I actually have presents! This is the best!"

There was something impossibly sad about that statement, but Blake pushed it aside.

Out of the three gifts Luna had, Cinder's was by far the largest, nearly the size of the ottoman and at least a foot high. It was heavy too, judging by the way the ottoman nearly sagged beneath it's weight. Tukson's looked like a book, big surprise, and Blake's was small and of indeterminate origin.

Luna looked at the pile with huge eyes, practically shaking with excitement as she tried to pick which one to open first.

"Largest to smallest?" Cinder offered with a small smirk. She picked up the smaller two gifts and set them on the chair. "I think that will be the most... satisfying order."

"Okay..." Luna was practically licking her lips as she reached out and gripped the wrapping paper of Cinder's gift. "One, two... three!" She tore off the wrapping, revealing...

Luna gasped. "A starter weapon building kit OMG YES!!!"

"Calm down, Luna." Cinder said with a laugh. "You're vibrating."

"B-but it's just so cool!"

It was a starter weapon building kit, one of the latest models. "It is rather cool." Blake said as she moved over to Luna's side to get a better look at the box.

It was mostly unadorned. After all, a weapon kit was hardly something you could buy at a supermarket, so there was no need for the box to advertise itself. Nevertheless, the front did list the features this particular kit boasted.

This starter kit had some of the latest mechashift technology along with three basic template weapons to get an aspiring weapon maker started.

Blake thought Luna would probably build the pistol/fire firsts, before scrapping the directions entirely. She'd start in on her own insane creations after that.

"Tukson's present goes well with that." Blake noted, handing it to Luna. "Here."

Luna destroyed the wrapping paper once more. Rather than a thin book, like she initially expected, the wrapping fell away to reveal a thick magazine.

It was a magazine with all of the latest information on- wait for it -weapons.

Luna got even more excited to get started.

Just from a glance at the cover, Luna could tell the magazine had everything. The newest trends hunters followed? On the first page. The most recent innovations in mechashift? Try a whole section. The newest breakthroughs of dust casting weapons? That, and much much more.

"This is amazing!" Luna squealed. She hugged the magazine close to her chest with a humongous grin. With this... "I can make ANYTHING!"

"Don't get ahead of yourself, little starlight ." Cinder said. "Besides, you still have one last gift to open."

Luna gave Blake a huge smile as the older girl bashfully handed Luna her small present.

"I'm sorry it's not something better..." Blake said.

"Blaaaaaake~" Luna whined. "I'm sure it's amazing!"

Slowly, and with another smile, Luna removed the wrapping paper. It was as if she were trying to savor the feel of opening her last gift.

Inside, nestled in several layers of thin brown paper lay an elegant silver necklace made of metal links. It had a single yellow gemstone as the only adornment, along with extra links to make the necklace longer.

Her shoulders slumped. "I knows it's not a very good gift and-"

Luna practically threw herself forward, wrapping Blake in a huge hug. "It's the best gift ever!" She said. "You're a great friend, Blake."

Blake froze for a few seconds, before returning the hug silently.

The two separated a moment later. "Thank you so much Blake." Luna said, snapping the necklace around her neck. "Oh! And tell Tukson thanks for the magazine too!" She paused for a second. "This has got be the best birthday ever."

She said that last with a melancholy smile. Luna didn't want the day to end; it had been so much fun. But it was getting late. Soon, Blake would have to go home and Cinder would have other things she had to do.

And even though Luna would never ever forget this day, it would still eventually come to an end.

Hours past of Luna chatting away with Cinder and Blake unimportant conversation normally ending with Luna saying something outrageous and everyone laughing.

The party ended late in the day when Tukson came by to pick Blake up everyone said there goodbye and soon after Luna went to bed.

Cinder pulled up her scroll and began dialling a number it dialled twice before someone picked up

"What's up I'm busy?" asked Roman

"I'm going to bring her around tomorrow be ready"

"Alright I'll start setting up"

And with that the scroll was hung up and Cinder went off to bed.


	5. Chapter 5

**(From here I'm taking inspiration Monokub's fic my little fire flower again sins have been admitted to)**

Luna was sleeping happily in her comfy bed the recently dubbed 10 year old faunes girl was to comfortably to get up. Cinder walked into looking at her daughter smiling in her sleep she thought to herself " today is the day" Cinder walked over to the curtains and in one swift motion opened them up wide.

"Wake, up, sleepy, head" said Cinder in a sing song voice.

The light hitting Luna made her squirm away "5 more minutes, please Mom" Luna moaned

"Alright I guess you won't go to the place I planned then"

Luna ears perked up the thought of going somewhere new excited the young faunes girl, she shot up immediately "where are going, where are we going!?" Yelled Luna bouncing up and down.

"Well Mommy wants to be able to take you to work, so we're going to go meet people that can help make that happen"

Luna was starry eyed she always wanted to go to work with Cinder she always felt so lonely when she left.

"Yay, Yay lets go, lets go"

"Calm down little starlight you need to get ready first, go get into your training clothes"

"Ok mom"

"And don't forget your Sasori's

And with that Luna went to get changed, eat her breakfast, brush her teeth and hair aswell as grab her weapons her weapons consists of two grappling hook gauntlets the hooks are Cresent blade that can lock into position for punching strikes, one she was ready she went to meet Cinder at the door.

"All ready to go?" Cinder asked

Luna gave a mock salute "all set captain"

Cinder gave a small chuckle at Luna's antics and opened the door for the two to walk out, when the two made there way out the main enterence a black limousine was already waiting with the old man driver standing beside it.

"Where will be going today m'am" the man asked

"The docks for today" Cinder responded as she got into the car

The man held the door open for Cinder and Luna and as Luna got in she looked to the old man

"Thank you Alfred"

"Your very welcome Luna" Alfred responded with a smile.

The drive was spent in silents until they pulled over on the docks, beside a warehouse.

"We have arrived at your destination m'am" said Alfred

Cinder turns to Luna "Alright time to go"

Luna gives a big grin "Alrighty"

They began walking inside the warehouse and a little bit away saw a familiar looking orange hair man in a white trench coat, standing beside him has a short girl no older than 13 with brown and pink hair also wearing white.

"Hello Roman, Neo"

"Ah. Cinder good to see you" responded Roman in a sarcastic tone"HELLO " Neo wrote on her notepad

"So you called use down so we can start the kids training, right?" asked Roman

"Indeed"

Cinder looked down at Luna who all the will has been looking at Neo "you have really pretty hair"

Neo gave a small blush and wrote down on her notepad "THANK YOU, I LIKE YOUR EARS"

Luna read the message and grinned "your welcome, and thank you".

"Alright sweetie, it's time for your first lesson." She announced as she and Roman backed away from the open area.

"Lesson?" Luna wondered. Looking ahead of her once more, she realized she and Neo were the only ones standing out in the open area of the warehouse. Both Cinder and Roman were standing against the walls ready to observe.

"Yes dear. I want you to hit Neo without using your powers." Luna was taken aback by the blatant objective.

"What?!" Luna didn't know what was more surprising; how her mother just told her to attack her new friend with her weapons, or how casually Neo was just smiling as she waved at her, umbrella at the ready. "Why would I want to hurt Neo?"

"It's your first lesson, kid." Roman began to explain. "You're gonna be fighting a lot of people like guards and everything if you want to help your mommy with work, and they won't think twice about hurting an innocent little girl no matter what reason she has for stealing."

"What do you work as mama" Luna asked realising she never did

"Were criminals kiddo, plain and simple" said Roman

"What?"

"We steal things we break the law, we, are , criminals" explained Roman

"Wow So you like go up to the stores and aim a gun at em an say, stick em up" said making a gun with her fingers

"He he Yeah something like that kid"

"That so cool"

Neo started writing on her notepad "I KNOW RIGHT"

"So are you ready to begin?" Cinder asked

"Yeah but..." This was still too insane. She had very sharp, hard, metal blades in her hands, and she was expected to hit Neo with it! This wasn't like some of her past parties where she was aiming to hit the pinata and wait for candy to pop out, this was her new friend! She didn't even want to imagine what sort of things would spill out of her if she hit her hard enough.

"You only have to hit her once, Luna." Cinder stated.

"Huh? Just once?" She wasn't entirely sure if that was supposed to make her feel any better. Then again, pinatas were pretty soft in comparison to a human skull, and from what she could tell Neo was almost half as tough as her mama! So if that was the case, there was no way a she could hit hard enough to seriously harm Neo... right? "But still. It's gonna hurt, isn't it?"

Looking back at Neo, the older girl simply smiled as she tapped the top of her head in an almost-taunting gesture. Luna seriously had no idea what to do at this point. She wanted to help her mama, and her mama was her hero, and she wanted to be just like her!.

Did they want her to actually kill Neo? Was that what they were asking? Did they want her to just beat her in a fight? She roughhoused a few times around the house with Blake as they grew up, all for fun of course, but it was never anything like this. There was only one time Luna got hurt when she banged her head on the coffee table and cried, but that was back when she was young. Even then, it only hurt for a few minutes and healed quickly.

She didn't take a blade to the face and see how long it took the swelling to ever go down.

"She's not going to hurt, sweetie." Cinder assured. As to whether or not that was true was hard to tell. Out of all of Roman's goonies there was nobody stronger than Neo. Maybe the girl herself was even stronger than Roman. She could recount several times when Neo got in a fight with one of the goons, whether to train them in, or to punish one of them for being stupid in some way.

Not once did anyone ever land a single hit on her. And that was before she was even 11!

"She'll be fine, right Neo?" Cinder clearly asked, earning a nod from the teenager.

"Well... if you're sure..." Luna breathed deeply to herself before readying her weapons before her. She wanted to be like mama.

This was it! She was going to begin her very first lesson today! All she had to do was strike her new friend anywhere! She was on her way to becoming the next stronger! Soon they would be calling her the strongest telling tales of her strength as she travelled the globe,by day she would be the hero by night she would be stealing from people to help her mother!.

"Hiyaaaaaaaa!" Luna screamed as she jumped in the air, lunging right for her new frie-

clang*

"Huh?"

WHACK*

"Ow!" Luna let out a cry as she fell to the ground, yelping out of pain from the blunt object that collided to the back of her head. "That really hurt..." Luna sniffled as she teared up. In a matter of a few seconds, Neo skillfully dodged to the side of Luna's obvious attack, causing her to hit the ground with a solid thud of her head, and struck her on the back of her head with her umbrella.

It surprised her how much the umbrella of hers truly hurt. If it wasn't some secret state-of-the-art weapon, then Neo managed to inflict major pain on with what should've been a relatively soft weapon.

For a brief moment, behind Luna's back, Neo's face almost displayed concern for the young girl before quickly shrugging it off. "Mama, she hit me!" Luna cried.

It pained her all the same, but she couldn't relent. "I'm sorry sweetie, but this is part of the exercise." She said.

"Out there, the cops won't hesitate to bludgeon you out cold." Roman added. "If you break down into tears after one simple hit, you're not gonna be able to steal nothin"

"Mmh..." Luna moaned. She didn't like getting hit, but she absolutely refused to let her mommy down. With a puff of her cheeks, readying her grand weapons of awesomeness once more, she stood at the ready! "Ok... I'm ready."

"Thatta girl." Roman grinned before turning his attention to Cinder. "If they're gonna be practicing, we should head back to business." He said taking his leave.

"Alright. Sweetie, I have to go to work now." She said a she kneeled down to her.

"You mean... thief work" said Luna grinning away It brought Cinder joy just watching Luna say that. She knew the girl was excited to begin her own theif work with her mom.

"It's not bad work, Luna." She replied patting her head. "Always remember that."

"Ok... love you bunches!" She chirped before concentrating again.

"Heh, love you bunches too." She gave a quick kiss to the cheek as she turned to leave. "Oh and Neo?" She quietly spoke grabbing her attentn. "Try and take it a little easier on her, please." A confirmed nod was all she needed from the mute girl to feel at ease.

Taking a pause as she reached the exit, she looked back at her darling angel. There she was, training for the day she would be at her mother's side fighting for her life. It was times like this she wondered if she was really ready to join in their world, but after today she reached the point of no return. She was going to grow up to Cinder's greatest weapon, her greatest joy. Soon she would be working on her first heist, her first mission, and, perhaps one day, her first assassination mission.

(6 months later)

Luna had continued her training with Neo but each session she couldn't land a single hit other things have happened over the 6 months such as Neo moving in with Cinder and Luna, Cinder had said it was to make it more convenient to contact Roman but everyone knew Cinder wanted Luna to have an older sister figure, Luna had also started to call Roman uncle Roman because as she explained "he's like the cool uncle character in all the movies" Roman just excepted the complement and excepted the title.

Beep Beep be* a hand slammed down on the alarm clock breaking it "I'm going to kill you NEO!!" Luna yelled running out of her room and pouncing at the multi hair coloured girl sitting on the couch, Cinder walked into the living room and was welcome by the sight of her two girl wrestling Neo having Luna in a headlock.

"What happened, it's not like you Luna to be up so early on a Saturday"

"NEO CHANGED MY ALARM!!!" said Luna as she squirmed out of Neo's grip jumping back on her head

In the months Neo had been with Luna and Cinder the two had learned sign laungauge to make it easier to communicate.

"Neo is that true? Cinder asked smirking with an eyebrow raised

Neo signed "maybe" will sticking her tongue out

Cinder started sniggering "very funny Neo"

Luna fell off Neo's head moaning "not you too mom"

"I'm sorry starlight but it's funny to see you all cranky like this" said Cinder covering her mouth to hide more sniggering.

(1 year later)

During the past year Luna and Neo have been getting along great so great that Luna has started to call Neo big sis, Luna now being 11 was just getting stronger by the day aswell as more moody life was good.

Ring Ring* Cinder looked at her scroll seeing the I.D was unknown this could only mean one thing.

"Hello Hazel, What do you want I already gave you my report"

"How long did you think you could hide her" Hazel said in his deep voice.

"What are you talking about?" asked Cinder getting a little nervous

"Lady Salem wishes to see her book an airship and come to the castle"

"Alright I'll be there by next week" Cinder hung up her scroll sighing

Luna walked over hearing her mother sighing "What's up mom?

"Umm well you see were ….." Cinder tried to figure out how to explain.

"We're what?" asked Luna tilting her head

"Were going to go visit your grandma"

"What really I have a grandma, that's so cool, when are we going!?"

"We're going on Sunday, but only if your good ok?"

"Yeah, I'm gonna be the best"

True to her word Luna was on her best behaviour for the next week she did all her school work brushed her teeth and hair without be told, did all her choirs, she even helped Alfred with the grocery shopping.

"Alright Luna you ready to go !?" Cinder yelled waiting for a response

Luna had gotten up right and early to start packing " oh I wonder if grandma is nice, is she a theif like mom, or is she just rich in general" these were just some of the thoughts racing through Luna's head as she packed her weapons away.

As Hobs (Cinders airship flyer) flew the bullhead Luna began feeling nervous, she could see out the bullhead window and all she saw was death and decay and thanks to her faunes trait she would see the occasional Grimm run by.

"Momma? Where are we?" Luna asked curiously as Cinder set her to her feet. Instead of answering, Luna just watched as Cinder kneeled in front of her, placing her hands on Luna's shoulders.

Like when she was working, she was wearing her elegant red dress. But as opposed to those days when she would always look at her daughter happily, she looked upon her with a slightly pained smile.

"Sweetie, I..." Cinder paused as she tensed a bit. "You know mommy loves you no matter what, right?"

"Of course I do!" Luna perked up as she hugged her mother around her neck. "I love you too!" It was fortunate she wasn't looking at Cinder's face at that. The fiery witch had to clear her eyes of whatever tears were forming.

She was clueless. Not Luna, Cinder herself. She had no idea what was going to happen to her beyond this point. If Salem wanted to take Luna's life, Cinder was unsure if she would intervene or just stand there and watch obediently. She was too loyal to Salem no matter how much she loved Luna, so she had no idea what she could or couldn't do when the moment came.

She was also clueless on the case before them. She was uninformed about anything Salem wanted, unsure what fate could befall them after this meeting. All she knew was that she wanted this one moment with Luna in her arms to never end for as long as possible.

"G-Good." Cinder nearly choked on her tears, standing up again as she took Luna's hand. "J-Just stay by me. And don't be scared, I'll keep you safe."

"Scared?" Luna tightened her grip as her mother began walking. What did she have to be scared of? Her mommy was here, and there was never anything to be scared of as long as she was around! She was the prettiest, strongest, smartest, and funnest mommy around! Nothing could scare her as long as mommy was arou-

groooowl*

"Ngh!" Luna squeaked as she hugged her mother's waist.

There it was. That one sudden sound she recognized all too well. From the TV shows she watched of huntresses hunting bad and evil monsters, as well as those earliest of memories from her childhood. She recognized all too well the sound of those menacing Grimm all too well. Further ahead upon the darkened hall she saw them, two razorfangs whose eyes shined red within the darkness. She could tell, she could almost feel their gaze fixated on her alone as they walked forward.

M-Mom..." Luna trembled as she teared up. As scared as she was, the Grimm seemed to pay her no mind. Like her mother promised, the Grimm seemed to avoid her as they walked on by. She wouldn't be able to tell why at the time, but to her belief, her mother made them go away as her hands erupted in flame, seeming to warn them to stay away from her daughter. While that alone would normally warm Luna's heart and calm her down, it raised more questions than answers. Why didn't her mommy attack them?

Sure, they weren't trying to hurt Luna, but usually mommy's first instinct was to fight off anything that seemed to threaten her daughter. The Grimm that passed her were lucky enough to be alive at this point, mommy would usually burn them away at this point. Luna thought that maybe these Grimm were nice.

"See, sweetie?" Luna looked up as her mother smiled calmly to her. "Like I promised, you'll be okay, ok?" Luna sniffled a bit as she nodded giving a small smile.

"Ok." She replied as her mother continued walking them down.

It was becoming increasingly hard to tell where at all they were. The next several minutes were spent just walking within these dark halls one step after the other. Sometimes their footsteps echoed throughout the long space, other times it just went silent for a short while. Then, it would repeat again in an endless loop. Luna wasn't scared though! Her mommy said not to be scared and that's what she planned on doing! Even if all these Grimm were... threatening ... and she passed them the occasional razorfang one after the other... and her skin grew goosebumps with each passing moment... and the wind grew colder despite the warm jacket her mother made with love.

It was only during that long walk did Luna and her mother happen to come across the sight down the right hall, thanks to the noise being caused. Further down the hallway, in a large round and lit room, Luna saw two strange curious-looking people.

The first one seemed to be some teenager around the age of 17. She never met him before, and chances were she wouldn't want to after this. It was some black-haired spiky headed teen with a scorpion tail. He seemed to be doing everything in his power to land a single blow with either of his wrist blades or his sharp, long, scorpion tail. This teen was definitely a scorpion Faunas . But somehow he wasn't even the strangest of the two people.

Saying strange was probably a little harsh on the other guy. He actually seemed pretty normal in comparison. He was a big husky man, that was obvious just by the mere sight of him. But despite his appearance, he seemed relatively peaceful.

There was a calming presence coming from him that made Luna less afraid of him than the scarier looking teen. The part that made him strange though was how he was letting the other kid attack him without telling him to stop. It's not like he was letting him actually hit him either. He just stood there in a calm and composed manner as he used a single arm to block each and every blow! He was definitely along the lines of fearless, but definitely wasn't a match for her mommy! But she'd definitely like to fight him one day.

"You attack to wildly, you leave yourself open and obvious." The large man commented, never losing focus as he continued to block.

"Ah shaddup, I just need one good strike and-" His attention shifted as he noticed Luna staring at him as she walked away with her mother. "Huh?"

WHAM!*

"Yeowch!" She heard the cry following the sound of something hard knocking him to the floor.

"Told ya." Was the last thing she heard the other man say before they faded away from view.

What kind of place was this?! She couldn't even tell that her mother was intentionally going slower than normal. She wanted to make the most of this moment, with her daughter in hand like she used to be. After this moment she wasn't sure what was going to happen. Making the most out of what could be her last day with her sweetheart was the only thing that came to mind.

But like all good things, that came to an end. After another several minutes, they came upon it; the set of large doors that would forever change their fate. It was futile to wonder if Salem was aware of their presence at this point. Not five seconds after they arrived at the doors did it suddenly begin to creak open. It was just like the entrance to a Ball, the room going silent as all sound escaped through the revealing doors. The only differences was how instead of a ball, these were leading into their final Destination.

A meeting room. A simple, somewhat average looking meeting room. Minus the choice of decor and scenery, it was about what you could expect from a room such as this. At the center of the room was a large table, capable of seating up to a near dozen people with the numerous chairs it provided. But it was the very edge of the room, where one single chair stood out, did Luna see her "Grandmother", situated before a cup of warm tea.

It was only when she laid eyes upon her was Luna truly terrified. From her ghost white long hair, menacing red eyes that match her own shade, red-veined skin, everything about her presence terrified her it was a new feeling she didn't like it not one bit. She looked like every single villain from every story her mommy ever read to ever but one of the biggest things her mommy always told her to remember was never judge a book by it's cover!

It was only then did the woman smile lightly to the young girl, beckoning to her. "Come to me, my child." She directed. Luna was naturally hesitant, shaking slightly as she looked up at her mother. Even with all that happened, her mother did her best to put on a brave face, patting her head and ears soothingly.

"It's alright sweetie, I'll be right here." She said. With a silent gulp to herself, Luna released her grip from her mother's waist, nervously walking inside of the room. That was her first and last mistake. Immediately upon entering the room, the doors behind her slammed shut twice as quickly as it opened. While Cinder was expecting such a case, it still tore her up. This was it now. She was separated from Luna. She had no idea what was going to happen to her little angel, or if she would see her again.

All she could do was squeeze her fist as she prayed.

All the same, Luna jumped at the sound of the doors slamming shut. Ok, she had to remain calm. This was her grandmother she was visiting after all. And no matter how cryptic, scary, she was, she had to trust her.

Whether she liked it or not.

"Come here, Luna." The woman called over again. Luna could only rub her hands with unease as she slowly walked over to the mysterious stranger. She was sorta expecting someone to look like an older version of her own mother, not some lady who looked like she was in her 500's if the pitch white hair was any indication. Even the dress the woman was wearing was a bit eerie. Who the heck was she? "Come now." She said again, offering a hand as she neared her.

"H-Hi..." Luna greeted hesitantly as she took the woman's hand. With a firm pull, Luna found herself placed on the woman's lap. Even with her seeming gentleness, this woman rubbed off on Luna in all the wrong ways. Just staring into those eyes of hers made her realize all the horrors she saw in her nightmares were nothing. This woman WAS the nightmare! And the way she kept peering into Luna's own eyes, gently gripping her chin as she turned her head slowly in different angles, it was like she was peering into her very soul.

"...Hmhm..." Luna was actually surprised by the sudden chuckle the grandmother let off, releasing her grip on Luna's chin as she soothingly stroke her head. "You have such pretty eyes, Luna..."

"Umm... T-Thank you?" Luna wasn't quite sure how to take the compliment. Her mommy always taught her to be nice and courteous, always say thank you when someone compliments you, and bless you if someone sneezes. This was the first time in her life though where someone strangely complimented her for her eyes.

"And such sweet manners." She continued. "Tell me, Luna. Do you know who I am?" Was it a trick question? There was some bizarre form of doubt in her curious question, one like Luna's never heard of before.

"Y-Yes..." Luna stuttered. "Y-You're Granny... my grandma, right?"

"Grandma?" The woman nearly flinched at those words with surprise, but supposed it would have to suffice for now. She knew whatever reason Cinder took this girl in, Cinder had lied about there relationship. As such, it would only make sense she would have to come up with something just as convincing to bring Luna to such a place. So, with a hearted smile, she nodded lightly as she continued to stroke Luna's head. "I suppose so. Yes, dearie, I'm your grandmother. You may also call me Salem."

"Granny Salem..." For the first time since meeting her, Luna grew a big smile revealing her fangs despite her fears. "I think it sounds pretty."

She hated to admit it, but there was some minuscule ounce of comfort those words gave Salem. "Thank you, sweetie." She said as she set Luna on the floor, standing up herself. "Now, I believe I had missed a birthday of yours, isn't that right?"

"Mh hm," Luna nodded, "it was a few months ago actually. Why?" Curiously enough, even this made the supposed-grandmother smile.

"Well, what grandmother would I be if I didn't have a gift for you?" Those words excited Luna to no end! Gifts?! From a grandma she's never met before?! WHO MIGHT BE A PRINCESS GIVEN THE CASTLE-LIKE SETTING THEY WERE IN?! With a snap of her fingers, Luna looked back to the entrance as the doors opened up once more.

The brief excitement Luna felt upon seeing her mother's face slowly changed to fear once more. Strolling passed her mother, who only stood there with a look of worry on her face, were several of the razorfangs, the very same Luna passed time and again throughout these halls. Was this all a trick? Was her grandmother secretly some planing to kill her? Was she going to feed her to the monsters around her and keep Luna frombeing with her mom again?!

She didn't get much time to contemplate this. With one step after the other, the Grimm approached. Some of them growled slightly, others gruffed and huffed here and there. But all of them stood side by side as they neared the innocent Luna. Luna could only tremble with fear once more as she clutched Salem's waist in fear, holding onto her for dear life. It almost amused Salem how innocent and frightened the young girl was being. It was almost cute.

Almost.

It was just several feet away from them did the Grimm come to a halt. Luna shut her eyes with fear as she buried her face into Salem's dress. She could practically feel them breathing down her neck! Who knows what sort of horrible cruel fate awaited her!

"Meow!" Luna blinked as she looked back. "Mrow! Meow!" That sounded almost familiar. She couldn't help it, she had to look back to the menacing Grimm that threatened to eat her. No matter what her mind was telling her, her gut told her to keep staring into the crowd of Grimm. Grrr"! Mrow! Meow!" And then, she saw it.

It. The gift her grandmother had for her. Amongst the crowd of Grimm, a small figure could be seen scurrying about. It was definitely smaller than any of the other Grimm, Luna could practically see the small figure running passed the large legs it ran through. After several more moments, Luna

gasped at the sight.

"A kitty!" She squealed with excitement. Even Cinder was surprised when she peered into the room.

There it was, in front of Luna, Grandma's wonderful gift. The kitten itself was definitely a Grimm, there was no denying it, but compared to all the Grimm before her, this one looked like the closest thing to a real kitten or cub at that. It's skin was pitch black, from it's lower jaw to it's tail. The only color that came from it was the white mask of it's face, which stretched over most of the felines face including two fangs sticking past its jaw. And even with the similar menacing look it shared with the other Grimm, there was a sense of decency and peace from it's eyes. It was nothing more than a kitten, from looks, and heart.

"I made it just for you, sweetie." Salem stated, patting her head. "It will be your shadow, and as you grow, it will be your guardian."

"My shadow?" Luna asked curiously. As if to show what she was referring to, the kitten itself submerged into Luna's own shadow, disappearing from sight. Leaning over to her shadow with shock, Luna was even more surprised as a pair of red eyes glowed from it before she was pounced on by the small kitten who jumped out from it. "Ah-! S-Stop, that tickles! Hahaha!" Luna couldn't help but giggle as she squirmed around as the kitten made its way to her head.

"Do you like it?" Salem's question was immediately answered as Luna jumped to her feet, wrapping her arms around Salem's waste as she hugged tightly.

"I love it! Thanks Granny Salem!" She squealed.

Interesting. All Salem could think was interesting. This child definitely had a comforting presence compared to most people she's met in her long life, one of the very few she ever tolerated. With a warm smile, she patted Luna's head ruffling her ears once more.

"You're welcome, dear." She replied. "Now, why don't you go run along and play with the other ones? As long as you're here, no Grimm will ever harm you."

"W-Whooa!" Luna squealed as she was suddenly flung into the air by a razorfang. The next thing she knew she landed on the back of one of the large razorfangs. Before she could even ask, she was holding onto the rugged bone-like spine of the beast as the creature practically galloped it's way out the doors with the others. It was official. These Grimm were not scary. "Weeeee!" Luna squeaked, waving to her mother as the Grimm raced down the halls. "I got a kiiittttyyy!" She cheered to her mother as she disappeared down the halls, the small kitten following after her.

Cinder was speechless. She was overwhelmed with disbelief, joy, confusion, surprise, shock, regret, wonder, too many emotions to count. She was surprised as any to realize Salem never meant to harm her, or if she did she just sent Luna off to get fed to the Grimm . What's more, she was unable to comprehend any of this. Not only did Salem spare her, she actually gifted her with a present! A kitten-cub thing at that!

Salem was never strictly evil, not the way Cinder knew her as she was raised, but she was hard to please and even harder to get along with so easily. From time and again, she worked Cinder to the bone as she taught her everything she knew about her powers and how to harness it. She was less of a mother to Cinder herself and more of a teacher, but she always did have a semi-caring side to her that she never failed to display it.

Who knows? Maybe things were actually looking on the ups.

"Cinder." Salem called out.

Well that was a short three seconds.

With a deep breath in and out, Cinder approached. Like before the doors slowly closed behind her but it was the farthest thing from Cinder's mind. Whether it was a matter of keeping their conversation private from Luna herself or any of the others was irrelevant. Everyone else already knew of the child by now. Salem wouldn't have orchestrated this little meeting otherwise.

All the blazing witch herself could do was stand a few feet away from Salem, pulse increasing with each passing second as she just watched her leader sip the tea before her.

"So." Salem finally spoke. "Speak." There was no possible time to jokes here. Everything needed to be straight and to the point from this moment.

"S-Salem, I..." Cinder winced a bit as she pondered what to say. "I swear, it wasn't a matter of keeping her a secret or anything, I-I just didn't... L-Look, I swear this isn't interfering with any business whatsoever. I've been keeping tabs on everything, increasing productivity to make up for any payments spent on her, I haven't let her distract me any of our goals. I-In fact it's thanks to her, we have more than enough support from the White Fang, operations are going smoother-"

"You may keep her."

"-and it's helped blend in with the city. I mean many people think I'm her mother-!" Cinder suddenly stopped as she finally realized what Salem said. "W-Wait... what?"

"I said you may keep her." Salem repeated as she finished her drink.

Nothing but warmth filled Cinder's heart, whether from joy or pure happiness. She doesn't know if Luna just grew on Salem too quickly, if she was just not bothered by anything about her, maybe the entire point was just to get Luna a gift, it was impossible to say at this point. All Cinder knew was that for the first time in a long time, she has never been happier.

"But," Salem's interruption caught Cinder's attention, "there are three conditions."

Of course there was. It wouldn't be this easy if Salem wanted to meet her in person. So she braced herself for the worst of it.

"First," she began, "you must always keep an eye on her.You must always know were she is when she goes out."

"That goes without saying." Cinder nodded in agreement.

"Secondly,when she comes of age you will send her to beacon." It was only now that she was beginning to worry. She didn't even need an explanation on what. "When she comes of age, I want her working with us, Cinder. I don't know if fate brought you two together, or sheer luck, but the girl you found has a very interesting... quality... to her." She commented rubbing her chin.

"Q-Quality?" That could've meant a lot of things. Did she just mean Luna's kindness? The warmth she gave Cinder herself? There was seriously a lot of possibilities.

"Have you ever heard the legend of the dragonslayer?"

"I can't say I have"

"The short of it is that there where those back in the times of old that were born with the ability to kill dragons, using there own powers against them" Salem explained

"That is why she names her attacks after dragon things, I just thought that was her imagination"

"No that is how she activates the attack, believe it or not I fought a slayer once it was quiet the battle, which raises another question which elements can she use"

"She can use fire and lightning, but she prefers to primarily use lightning" Cinder explained

"Two elements that's rare, it seems you are a lucky women Cinder, anyway back to business you understand everything I have said to you today?"

"I understand." Cinder nodded again. "She will be invaluable help, I assure you."

That summed up everything she needed to know about this meeting. Why she was so interested in her, why she wanted to meet her in person just to see her for herself. She wasn't sure if she truly considered Luna a threat, but any word from Salem was final. And Cinder would follow it to it to the very end, no matter the cost.

Besides, it was probably better this way. She had more than enough reason now to bring Luna into her line of work, to have her follow in her footsteps. Once the future came to her, once she had everything she needed to achieve her own goals, she would create a Utopia. A perfect world for Cinder to rule, one where she, Luna, and others like them could live happily ever after.

"By the way... about the kitten..." Cinder wondered looking back to the doorway.

"It is a gift for her, I assure you." Salem said with a small smile. "You don't have to worry about feeding it, if that's your concern. It draws it's strength from Luna. Her strength is it's strength, and vice versa. Over time, she should be able to call it at will and send it back to her own shadow safely. And no, you don't need to worry about taking it for... walks." She put delicately. It was the best to explain how she didn't have to worry about taking it to the bathroom outside or something.

"That's a relief," Cinder muttered, "but what else is there about it?" Cinder knew Salem. She didn't do things simply without a plan. "There's something else about it isn't there?"

"Indeed," Salem confirmed, "it will also act as my eyes and ears to her. It'll obey her to it's fullest like any sort of pet. This way will just help me keep an eye on things, to make sure things are running smoothly."

"And... what was the third thing?" Cinder asked, almost forgetting it completely. To her surprise, Salem just scratched her cheek at this. She would never believe it in a million years, so she was sure it was just a trick of the mind. But she could almost swear Salem had the smallest of blushes on her face at that moment.

"...Get her to stop calling me Grandma, it makes me sound old." She instructed. It took all of Cinder's inner strength to refrain from making any sort of face at that very moment, squeezing her hands as she forced the smile on her lips to keep from forming.

'I... I understand, is granny ok." Cinder asked bowing once more as she waited for an answer.

"As long as she doesn't use it unnecessarily"

"I understand" said Cinder as she walked away


	6. Chapter 6

"This place is so biiig..." Luna commented to herself as she explored the hallways.

What had at first terrified the young girl did nothing more now than to interest her. What she thought were horrifying monsters had slowly become nothing more than mere animals like the ones she would expect at a Petting Zoo. After riding on the backs of them for the last ten minutes, she found herself wandering the halls of this dark palace with the small kitten wrapped up in her arms.

This was definitely one of the most interesting days she's had up to this point, and for good reason. She was amazed with all the things she's learned from this point, with meeting her grandmother to finding out that not all Grimm were scary or mean, at least not these ones. And she had no more reason to fear these Grimm either, again just the ones within these halls.

All of them were fairly nice, letting Luna pet them as she passed them every now and then, and even nuzzling their heads against her once in awhile. These were definitely not the same ones from home. These were friendly, a lot less aggressive than the ones she's seen or heard of.

Sometimes she would still have nightmares of the Grimm attacking her if it wasn't for her mother or sister comforting her she wouldn't get back to sleep. That's why it was more than surprising to find so many nice Grimm around here! There weren't any Grimm better than these but maybe she was was just bias.

Oh, and her kitty of course. Her kitty! All hers! She was so excited and cheerful of it! It looked just like a tiger cub, only more "Grimm-y" compared to the other cats she's ever seen. She was cute, she was playful, she was cute, her nibbles tickled her to no end, and most importantly, she was so cute! She finally got the kitty she always wanted! Well, wanted for sure, but just not the one she ever expected. But Grimm-cat or not, she was still too adorable for the young eleven-year-old to care.

"Prrrr!" The tiger cub purred again in Luna's arms.

"Hehehe," Luna giggled as he petted her new kitty, "I'm gonna call you... Corrán!"

"Meow!"

"Hehehe." Luna continued to giggle as the kitten rubbed its head under her chin tickling her.

thump*

"Oof-!" Luna yelped as she bumped into something. It wasn't a Grimm, the Grimm here were incredibly gentle and peaceful compared to most of the people she's met thus far. After looking up, she wished it was.

Whoever the man before her was, there was something off about him. He had a more menacing presence despite the fact he wasn't physically scarier than her grandma, who she began to see in a new light. He was the same teen as before, that scorpion Faunus. But everything about him... his stance, his wrist blades, the smile on his face, it was all... off putting. Even Salem wasn't this much of a scare.

"Well, well, well, look what bumped into me." He commented leaning over to Luna.

"Oh, um...s-sorry..." Luna mumbled as she rubbed her bumped nose.

"Hsssss!" The kitten began to hiss. Apparently Luna wasn't the only one getting bad vibes from this Faunus.

"Corrán?" Luna spoke trying to calm her down.

"Huh? What's this weird thing?" The Faunus questioned as he poked the Cat repeatedly on the nose.

CHOMP*

"Ouch!" The guy suddenly yelped as he pulled his finger up. The tiger cub definitely had a strong grip on his finger, because even as she was lifted out of Luna's arms, she continued to latch onto the Faunus' finger no matter how hard he shook. "Let go of me you stupid thing!"

"Mraw!" The cat let out a cry of pain as it was painfully chucked to the wall. Little Luna stared in horror at her kitty as it collapsed to the floor.

"Corrán!" She cried, then she turned her head up towards the scorpion Faunus her eyes filled with unadulterated rage.

"Aww did I break your toy, sorry"……."NOT!!! HAHAHA"

The scorpion faunes started laughing insanely before he stopped as he realised flames started surrounding the girl he was laughing at.

"You hurt Corrán, YOU ASSHOLE!!!" Luna screamed as she pounced on the man punching him in the face with a fist ingulfed in red hot flames.

As her fist connected with his face he was sent flying and as he landed he quickly got up holding his jaw.

"Asshole, eh?" Hearing such pitiful words of insult brought nothing but a devious smile to him. "That's hurtful you know, you're a hurtful person."

"Grrrrrr" Luna growled as he neared her.

"Hurtful people have no place here. The last we want is you hurting our Goddess, you know."

"Grrrrrrrr" Luna was too angry to care what he meant by Goddess. He could have whoever his Goddess was as much as he wanted for all she cared! She just wanted him to leave him to pay!

"Hmm? Go on, say it. Say those little words. And for each one you say, I'll take one finger." He cackled with a grin.

"W-Why?" Luna gritted her teeth. She couldn't comprehend it! It was like every single word coming out of his mouth was meant to only anger her more and more.

And it was working!

"Because then, you'll be less of a threat." He explained. "We can't have anyone that would threaten our dear goddess. So I'll say it again: Say. Them." She didn't like this. She didn't like anything this man was doing.

He was absurdly annoying. Her grandma was nicer than this jerk! She wasn't even scary anymore compared to how annoying this guy was! He was nothing more than a monster who wanted to torment her, for reasons she couldn't comprehend! Even if she did comprehend it later, what was the point? This guy was just a monster who wanted to make Luna angry, that's all she understood!

Well, it wasn't like there was any option from this point on. If he wanted it, she was going to give it to him! So with one deep breath, his face becoming increasingly excited by the sight, she sucked in the air and screamed.

"FIRE DRAGONS ROAR!!!" as a inferno of fire erupted from Luna's mouth the excitement on the man face was replaced with shock as he jumped out of the way of the flames and charged at Luna grabbing her by the throat.

Luna's face lost color as her anger was replaced with fear the fear built up inside. No one was there. Her mother wasn't there, her grandmother wasn't there, there wasn't anyone. All she saw when she opened her eyes again was the menacing grin which grew wider with each attempt at a breath.

Luna's struggling intensified as the strange teen suddenly gripped her right pinkie tightly. "So I think I'll start with the right end-"

WHACK*

"Ow! Damn it that hurt!" He screamed as he dropped Luna, clutching his eyes from the blow as he fell back.

"Hack-! Oough huff..." Luna coughed as she suddenly fell back. Her vision was dazed briefly as she saw her sudden savior, but was surprised as any by the hero before her. "Sis?"

It was. Despite all reasoning for being here and not knowing how she managed to reach this place, she stood right at the ready, standing between her and the madman who attacked Luna, her umbrella at the ready. It was a bit of a weird for Neo to be carrying around constantly, at least it was to Luna. She wouldn't be able to understand why at the time, but that umbrella was more than just some fashion statement or means to protect herself from the rain. It was her weapon. And it was her means from keeping this man away from her little sister, real or not.

"Gehhhh...dumb brat! Hahahahha!" The man cackled menacingly once more as he jumped to his feet, wasting no time as he burst with speed, ready to strike the short girl before him. This was going to be fun! This was going to be easy! She wasn't even readying herself for his attack! He had this in the bag!

craaaash!*

"Ha?" Wow, he really did. Not even one punch was necessary. The moment his blades and fist connected straight to her head, she shattered into millions of tiny glass shards, each evaporating slowly after they collided with the ground.

In fact, it wasn't just her that shattered, but the little girl too! This was amazing! He clearly was too strong for his own good, not that there was any doubt to begin with. But maybe there was something else to it? Maybe this was all some glorious trick played by the mysterious girl who appeared just in the nick of time to act as the little brat's savior? But that also meant she could be a possible threat to his goddess, she could be another danger that could threaten his glorious queen.

And like all threats, they were dealt with. Tilting his head back, he honed in on the sound of running footsteps. With a devilish grin, he casually licked the edges of his wrist blades.

"Oh, I love a good chase..."

At the same time, Neo just ran. She ran and she ran as fast as she could, holding Luna in her arms for dear life. Where the hell were they?!

It was kind of her own fault that she was here to begin with. When Cinder told her that she was going to take Luna to see her Grandma, she couldn't help but be filled with curiosity. Not just because she said she was going to see her grandma, but the fact thatCinder never talked about her mother. And her curiosity probably wouldn't have gotten to her if it wasn't for the fire dust she noticed Cinder putting in Luna's breakfast that morning.

That alone caused suspicion. At first, she thought it wasjust for flavour, but Luna had never before asked for dust in her food. When she finally discovered it was the hyper concentrated kind, and Cinder told her to return to Roman while they were gone for the next few days, or until she returned since she wasn't sure of when she'd return.

Mix all that into a bit batch of suspicion and worry for Luna, and Neo couldn't help but follow Cinder at every turn, and sneak aboard when the time called for it. It was pretty easy too, thanks to her illusions. If there was one specialty she had, it was her semblance. Perhaps it's why Roman took her in, to enhance her skill and put it to better use, a better purpose than a homeless girl who had to steal to survive.

"Sis?" Luna called up as Neo continued running down the halls. Neo just shot her a brief smile, assuring her that everything was going to be ok, before focusing onward.

None of that mattered right now. All that did matter was finding a way out of this despairing darkness! Ever since the ship landed, she's been cutting paths and creating illusions everywhere, just to avoid the numerous Grimm that wandered throughout these hallowed halls. A few times she ended up running into one or two, something she could easily dispatch of with her skills. If the time called for it, she would drop her illusions and make a dash if there were too many to deal with.

But where the heck was she going to go?! Every hall they came to, they either met with a Grimm wandering down it, the amount of threat it possessed unknown to the ice-cream girl at the time, or a room they already ended up in before. It was like a maze of endless darkness, one that tightened it's grip on her focus with each passing second. It was closing in on her as it was alive! And every second spent creeping around the halls, she knew it was only a matter of time before she ran into-

WHAM*

"Ah!" Luna cried as she crashed into the floor ahead of Neo.

Neo herself was already at a major disadvantage the minute she turned the corner. No sooner had she made the last turn did the madman from before tackle her into the ground, knocking Luna out of her arms and pinning the girl herself to the ground. This guy was already on top of her with an expression of delight, both his wrist blades pinning her hands to the side, just barely missing her skin, and both his feet pinning her knees in place.

She had no room to wriggle free. And even if she had the energy left to make another illusion, there would be no fooling him when he's literally inches from her face.

For the first time in a long time, she was afraid.

"You're a slippery little mouse, aren't ya?" He grinned slurping his lips. It was only then that he brought his stinger before her attention, revealing it from over his shoulder. She could only shake as she saw the venom dripping from it's tip. "Oh, don't worry. I promise it'll hurt a lot. Kyeheheheh!"

He began to take aim at Neo's eye before his tail stopped and his grin grew wider before he felt the temperature of the room rise and he looked at the little girl that bumped him earlier.

"TYRIAN!"

And just like that, it froze. Several inches from Neo's wavering eyes, the near-impaling stinger that guaranteed her death, had come to a stop. She was thankful to any guardian angel she had at that moment as she just stared with fear at the stinger, recollecting how close it came to stabbing her into the eye, possibly farther given how insane he was.

It was almost like he froze completely given the ease in pressure he finally let up. She couldn't make it out from her angle, only having a limited amount of space to turn her head back, but it was then that she saw what drove him to suddenly freeze, and what voice miraculously saved her life.

There she stood. The supposed grandmother that drove Neo to sneak aboard this entire trip. It wasn't a decision she regretted, despite how menacing this woman looked. Salem. The ruler of this place, and the head of the head of operations. There by her side was Cinder, with her arms crossed and an unamused expression on her face. She could tell instantly the look wasn't directed at the man atop of her though, it was directed at Neo herself. She had a lot of explaining to do after this, however long that might take for the quiet girl.

At least there, clutching Salem's waist tightly, was a sniffling Luna. The way she clung onto Salem for dear life, it made her wonder. Was this woman seriously supposed to be trusted? Luna was hard to trust new people she met these days, with what few she had met either being mean to her or sincere and kind to her like Neo herself, Blake, and the rest of her supposed family.

Neo did have to admit despite her appearance, the woman did have a seemingly calm demeanor about her. Even with the glowing eyes of the dozen razorfangs situated behind the three of them, she didn't seem any more ferocious than the man she saved Luna from. It was only then that she realized this Tyrian guy had backed off from her, quickly crawling herself backwards until she was closer to the side not trying to kill her at the moment.

"M-My Lady..." Tyrian stuttered.

"Tyrian," Salem's spoke with a firm but calming tone, not wanting to frighten the girl holding onto her," what are you doing?"

"M-My Lady, I-I...I was just..." The hairs on Tyrian's skin stood on it's ends, unable to come up with what to say. He could already feel the disappointment emanating from Salem's voice, not to mention her aura. "I was just... handling... possible, future problems..." He explained, never looking up from the ground as he bowed.

"I wasn't a problem!!!" Luna said anger clear in her voice, looking up to Salem. "I was just exploring the halls with Corrán, and this dummie started hurting us!" Salem patted the girl's head ruffling her ears gently, trying to calm the angry girl down.

"Is that so?" She already knew the reasoning behind it, given the circumstances. She still wished he would've known better than to attack someone out of nowhere if Salem even allowed them within her domain. "That was very foolish of you, Tyrian."

"Tch-!" His eyes widened with fear. This couldn't be happening! He did something she found foolish! What point was there to life anymore!?

"I want you to apologize to... to my granddaughter this instant." Neo couldn't help but look back at this. Was she really the one who was Luna's adopted grandmother? Luna herself was too kind and polite to point out her strange looks, so it only made sense that she wouldn't question it. But who was this woman?

"I'MSORRY! I'MSORRY! I'MSORRY! I'MSORRY!" He pleaded, pounding his head several times to the ground with each apology. Luna glared slightly as she watched this. The man annoyed her to no end, but she couldn't help but feel a little bad for him the way he kept apologizing.

Not to mention all the head trauma he was inflicting onto himself.

"It's.. It's ok..." Luna forgave as she looked back up to Salem. "But he still hurt Corrán!"

At this, Salem just gave her an amused look. "Really? Corrán seems fine to me."

"Mrow!" The sudden meowing made Luna gasp with disbelief. But sure enough, as she looked down, there was Corrán, looking excited as ever as it brushed itself against Luna's leg.

"Corrán!" Luna screamed for joy as the tiger cub jumped into her arms, tickling her under her chin. "Hehehe! Thank's Granny Salem!" She thanked, hugging her grandma once more. As cute as she found the scene to be, doing her best to hide the growing smile on her face, Cinder knew she had to intervene. After al Salem had done, the least she could do was follow through on her three conditions.

"Um... Hun?" Cinder spoke up scratching her cheek. "Your grandmother doesn't mind, but she would prefer it if you-" Before she could finish however, Salem simply held up a hand, cutting her off.

"It's alright." She muttered to Cinder's surprise. "You're welcome again, sweetie." Neo had to admit, despite how scary the woman looked, she had a sensitive side to her. Maybe that's what drew Luna to her so easily. At the same time, Cinder was just baffled. Did the third condition no matter, regardless of her previous conditions! She didn't want to push her luck thinking, but she could only smirk. She she had a sweeter side to her. "Now run along dear, and take your... sister, with you."

"Ok." Luna nodded as she walked over to her big sister, helping her to her feet. "C'mon sis." Luna ushered as she walked her down the hall, hand in hand. As they passed, Neo couldn't help but look back to Salem who watched her as she passed. While she didn't have anything in terms of threatening or anger directed towards her, she knew she was keeping an eye on her. That and the dozen razorfangs that trailed along Luna, ensuring not just their safety, but to make sure they didn't wander off again and get into any more trouble.

Like sneaking aboard the airship to begin with and discover a place she wasn't supped to know about.

It was something Cinder herself would have to talk to Neo about. There was no way she could allow her to speak a word about this place to anyone (not that she could speak), especially Roman at the present time. Fortunately she knew she cared deeply for Luna, just like herself, so any explanation she threw at her involving Luna's own safely definitely would've kept her silent. She wouldn't want to make it sound like a threat, but she wanted to keep Luna happy and safe. If she had to dispose of Neo herself, Luna would've been nothing but distraught, so she hoped it would never come to that.

Looking back to Salem, she couldn't help it. She just could not help it. She crossed her arms with a small smirk on her face as she looked at her. "So, you don't mind her calling you "Granny?", Salem returned to her with an unamused look. She didn't seem to mind it of course, but she was definitely telling Cinder not to push her luck.

"It's fine for now," She stated, "just make sure she grows out of it in the future." Cinder continued to smirk. No matter how hard Salem was trying to hide it, she definitely had a soft spot for the young faunes girl just as much as Luna loved her in turn. Maybe she would never come to love Luna like her, not that she wasn't hoping of course, but she definitely cared for the small child all the same, with or without her dragon slayer characteristics.

"I'm still surprised you gave Luna a tiger, though." Cinder commented looking back the way Luna and Neo left. "You could've picked any sort of animal you know. Maybe not even an animal, something larger or sturdier."

"Tigers are an... interesting species." She explained. "They take care of their own, so I only found it fitting to find one for Luna. It will grow quickly, I assure you, and it's maternal instincts will keep Luna safe through much of her life."

"Well that's a reli-" Cinder suddenly paused at the last remark. "Wait... maternal?"

"It's a girl."


	7. Chapter 7

"Ok hun, you can open it now."

"Oh Yeah !" Luna cheered with excitement as she opened her mother's gift. Another year and six months had come and gone, and with it, another birthday all Luna's friends and family were there meaning Blake, Neo and Cinder.

The now thirteen-year-old Luna was enjoying much of her life and all the things it had to offer. There were numerous changes to her life she had to adjust to, but not one of them she found boring or uninviting.

Through out the years Cinder had relied on educational videos and books to educate Luna but those were beginning to become outdated, sure basic education was easy to find but anything above was more difficult and so regrettably Cinder was forced to find a tutor, It took probably a month after Luna's last birthday before Cinder found a suitable tutor. She was just an average fresh out of college girl trying to start a life for herself. Those alone gave Cinder more than enough reasons to hire her, seeing how anyone desperate for money would be able to keep a lid on things. Plus, she was really nice. Luna seemed to like her, and Neo helped her from time to time too as her little assistant.

There were reason the couldn't just enroll Luna in a regular school one was because Cinder's protective nature kicked in she didn't want Luna to face discrimination because of her faunes traits the other reason they couldn't afford to take Luna to school was the new little addition to her life.

Corrán.

Corrán was a charming wonderful gift for Luna that her "Grandma Salem" gave her on their first visit to her domain. The tiger had numerous special qualities about it, the biggest one was it's ability to literally jump into Luna's shadow to remain hidden, a trait it could only do with Luna's and no one else's. She could recall the humorous moment of Luna's life, several weeks after getting Corrán, when she tried pushing the kitten into Neo's shadow and then Cinder's own. It didn't feel nice to see the girl's disappointment, but it was a rather humorous sight to just watch.

The tiger itself was surprisingly protective of Luna too. Even when it was a cub, it didn't whine or complain to anything Luna did, even when Luna tried pushing him into the ground of someone else's shadow. It hissed a bit, but it still followed Luna around like it was the one in charge of her. For all they knew, she pretty much was.

The cub was specially made by Salem herself. It wasn't just meant to be a way for Salem to keep an eye on it, but it was to be Luna's guardian against the dangers of the world. Over time she said Luna would learn how to summon the tiger out of her shadow with ease, for now simply coming in and out of it's own will unless Luna audibly called it. And based on the information Salem gave Cinder, aside from not needing to eat or go to the bathroom, it would also grow in strength as Luna grew stronger too.

It was also supposed to grow relatively fast according to Salem, not just in terms of strength that it drew from Luna, but definitely in size. Much to Cinder's surprise, in just under a year, the kitten had grown from a simple one-foot kitten to the size of Luna's bed. That might not sound like much, but that was just under the first two months alone. It almost scared Cinder until she contacted Salem and was relieved to know this was as big as it was going to get. It baffled her each time the tiger would jump into Luna's shadow as if it fit perfectly, even though the cat was now twice Luna's height when standing on its hind legs.

Cinder just glad the Grimm seemed smart enough to remain hidin when the tutor arrived but Cinder could swear she could feel the cretures agitation the longer it stayed hidin.

And like all changes, changes came to Luna's person as well. For starters, as opposed to the previous clothes, she was now sporting a fun red t-shirt with a yellow lightning bolt design in the center. It wasn't the fact it was her favorite color that made her like it so much, it was the patterns of fire that went across the base of it and her sleeves. She wanted to be just like Mama after all with her own flare aswell.

She also started wearing an orange jacket more often, not just for the previous reasons, but because it housed enough pockets for anything she needed at the time, like her new scroll she got for her birthday! It was the newest model, with the best warranty and mobile plan of course. Just like Neo's.

So now, there was no telling what Luna's present was going to be.

rip*

"OH MY GOSH IS THAT MY NEW WEAPON!!!!" Luna screamed thretining to shatter glass in front of Luna was an open box revealing a katana, the entire sword was black with a trigger on the handle aswell as a dust clip where the pommel was.

Luna picked it up giving it a few light swings before putting it down and hugging her mother

"Thanks mom you're the best"

"Your welcome starlight, and thank you"

Cinder and Luna were snapped back to reality by Neo tapped them on there shoulders sighing

"Hey Luna you still have a present to open"

There sits Blake sitting on the coach not wanting disturb the loving moment but when Neo did it for her she just extended the gift toward Luna

"Here you go Luna I think it will go well with your new weapon" said Blake almost shoving the present into Luna's face

"Thanks Blake" Luna began unwrapping the present revealing two dust vials one red and one yellow

"I hope you like it" over the years Blake has spent as Luna's friend her confidence has grown considerably she no longer feels awkward around Luna or her family, she especially like hanging out with Luna and Neo.

(Flashback)

It was around 2 months ago Luna and Blake were just hanging around the penthouse but unbeknownst to the two slowly creeping up behind them was a certain multi hair coloured teenager getting ready to strike,

And she did so pouncing on the two tickling them into submission " haha Neo stop please haha stop"

both Blake and Luna trying there best to escape the ruthless Neo as she continued to tickle them.

Neo stopped tickling them as she begun signing "haha got you good didn't I" Luna translated

"Yes you got use good Neo please stop doing that" asked Luna will sighing

"Yeah it's getting really annoying you do it every time I come over" agreed Blake

Neo signed "ahh come on it's funny"

"No it's not, it's just annoying!" Luna and Blake yell in unison

"Well anyway what were you two doing?

"Well we were about to play super brawl fighters, before you stated tickling use"

"Ahh cool mind if I join"

They didn't and the rest of the day was spent playing games telling jokes and just having a good old time, Blake finally felt she had friends.

(Flashback end)

The birthday was spent like it normally would with party games like piñata smashing and find the treasure aswell as other things like Neo's annual prank annoying Luna to no end but they just laughed it off like usual but as with all good things they must eventually end and Blake had to head home.

(1 week later)

Beep Beep be* Luna pressed down on her new alarm clock this one sturdier than the last hundred she broke

It was days like these she hated the most it was a training day or in Luna's case getting knocked on her ass by Neo over and over again.

"Ugggh, well time to get up" Luna proceeded to shift her body weight to through herself out of her bed Corrán catching her plopping her down by her dresser.

"Thanks Corrán, but you know you don't have to do that every morning"

"Meow" was Corrán's only response as she sunk back into Luna's shadow

"Yeah, Yeah love you to"

Luna then began changing into her training clothes and packing her gauntlets and sword which has been recently been dubbed Crackling Ember into a duffel bag throwing said bag over her shoulder and walking out her room.

She was greeted by the sight and smell of Neo sitting at the table seemingly excited about what Cinder was making and by the smell Luna could tell why, a smile grew on Luna face as her brain fully realised what Cinder was making.

"PANCAKES!!!" in a burst of lightning Luna disappeared and reappeared sitting down next to Neo just as excited

"I thought it be nice to have your favorite breakfast before we head out for training"

"Okie dokies"

As two plates of freshly made pancakes with syrup and chocolate sauce were placed in font of Luna and Neo they began scarfing them down like there was no friggen tomorrow.

"Mmmm these are so good, your pancakes are the best mom"

Neo nodded in agreement putting her utensils down for a hot second she signed "agreement"

"Thank you, your too kind" respondes Cinder with a giggle.

When everyone was finished with their breakfast they headed to the car and with one silent car trip later they made their way into the all to familier warehouse.

And with that the training began, Luna had taken up sword play as of receiving her katana she was still green but she knew the basics.

Luna went for a horizontal slash but that was blocked and she was kicked away by a smiling Neo, that Imfamous smile Luna was all to familiar with, the training continued like this for the next hour with Luna taking many attempts to slash at Neo and Neo blocking or dodging them delivering counter blow after counter blow until Cinder called them telling them it was break time.

"Your getting better"

"Huff..." Luna just sighed tucking her ears down as she nibbled on her sandwich again.

Ok this was bad. Usually Neo's encouragement always worked, at least with Luna, so this was a depression on a whole nother level. She tried again.

"You'll get the hang of this soon"

Once again, Luna just sniffled as she continued to eat. Now the depression was getting to Neo herself. She knew Cinder wouldn't have minded if she never managed to land a hit on her by the end of the day, they were expecting this to possibly take years at least. But just seeing her so depressed like this was unbearable! There was only one possible way to encourage her at a time like this, the one weapon in Neo's arsenal that never failed!

"When you win will celebrate with chocolate fudge cake"

"Eh... I don't know..."

It failed.

Oh dear god almighty it actually failed. The one thing that would always snap Luna out of it, the one surefire way to always brighten Luna's spirits, had completely flopped. If Fudge Cake wouldn't work, it was impossible. There was no force on Remnant powerful enough to brighten her spirits at this point if the all godly power of the cake wouldn't work.

With a silent sigh to herself, she smiled once more. Grabbing Luna's hand, she pulled her over to the center of the warehouse where they trained for the last hour, turning to her once more with a hearty-looking smile.

"What now?" Luna asked slightly moaning. It excited Neo thinking of how happy this was going to make her. So with a grin, she bowed over till her head was leveled right at Luna's height, plain and simple and out in the open before her. "...What?" Luna blinked in confusion as she tried to figure out what her sister was suddenly doing. Picking up the sheathed sword at her feet, she gave it to the thirteen-year-old once more before bowing, patting her head to signal. "You... You want me to hit you?" Luna actually perked up a little at this while Neo gave her a simple thumbs up, still bowed over.

This would be amazing! She would finally, finally land a hit on Neo get that win she always wanted, she'd make her mom proud of her she'd be able to go on an actual mission, she raised her sword to strike, Neo would be fine her aura would protect her, Luna was prepared to strike and yet she didn't she had her sword raised ready to strike but just couldn't.

Thus, with a moaning sigh, Luna just walked away again as she went back to the nearby basket to eat her sandwich. It took Neo several seconds before she opened her eyes again, realizing that Luna left her to eat again. With a concerned look, she ran over to the siblings side as she hastily kneeled over and wrote on her cards once more.

"What's wrong? Hit me!"

"Nooo..." Luna groaned.

"Why not"

"Cause it's cheating, sis." Luna sniffed. "I want to be a strong like mommy or Uncle Roman, and if they're thieves I doubt they need to cheat either." That was partly true in Roman's case, entirely in Cinder's case. He wasn't afraid of fighting one on one against people, usually having Neo by his side just in case, but he wasn't above using underhanded tactics either if it was necessary. "I don't wanna be a warriorwho cheats in all her fights!" She continued to cry. "I wanna be strong like you and mommy!" She sobbed.

It was too much to Neo to watch. She could only embrace Luna in a tight hug as she cried into her chest.

The stress was indefinitely taking it's toll on Luna, and perhaps Neo herself seeing how she just offered to let Luna bludgeon her to possible-death. All the time they were fighting, she didn't hit her once. Through all the encouragement and help she tried to provided, Luna didn't smile. No matter what she offered or tried to assist with, Luna just cried in frustration. This was too much for the teen to take!

But what was she supposed to do? Luna wouldn't try to cheat or anything, wanting to take the honorable route, and she knew the stress of being unable to hit Neo was more irritating than the hits Luna herself was taking. She couldn't go slower or Luna would be able to tell, and she couldn't hit her any softer because she needed to toughen her up for the real world.

it was only after another minute of her crying did Neo give a small smile again, releasing the girl once more as she signed.

"You need a different strategy"

"Different, strategy?" Luna asked confused. She payed close attention as Neo signed.

"Your too direct use brains instead"

"Use brains...?" Within another few seconds, Neo took out her notepad and drew a picture on her Cue Card. The picture she showed was of Luna with a thought bubble over her head and another of her landing a hit on Neo, but Luna actually got the idea of it thanks to her years with sis and learning her sign language.

When Luna nodded giving a small smile to show she understood Neo took another cue card and started drawing it took the form of what appeared to be a pyramid scheme as it showed the word "Strength" on top, the word "Brains" on the bottom left, and the word "Speed" on the bottom right. All of these were in a small square outline surrounding each of them, and at the edge of each one, they displayed a single arrow that circulated clockwise, so the Strength was pointing to Skill, Skill was pointing to Brains, and Brains was pointing to Strength. To anyone else, said picture would be nothing but confusing. To the younger sibling though, she understood perfectly. Strength overpowered anyone fast or skillful enough to strike the opponent multiple times. They could take as many hits as necessary while the strong fighter only needed to land a single hit. However, they were easy to overcome if you had the brains behind it, whether it came down to trickery or using their own strength against them.

A skillful fighter was fast and dexterous. They could act with lightning-fast reflexes faster than a brain-buzzling fighter could react! They would strike fast and furious while the thinker in the fight would be too overwhelmed and busy keeping up with them. By the time they could put together a plan, it would already be too late. But it was a different story if they fought anyone stronger and burly. No amount of hits would be able to topple them.

And then there was the brains. The pros to fighting a stronger fighter was that they usually waited for the opponent to make the first move, or they moved too slow giving the smarter fighter an easier time to dodge their hits and learn their fighting style. With how slow the heavy fighters were, the smarter guy would see their attacks coming from a mile away while planning their own counters lickitysplit. However, against a fighter who kept them off their toes, their unpredictability made it more than impossible to keep up with them.

This was the pyramid scheme that made up the three types of fighters, the rock-paper-scissors formation. It was the key element of every fighter in Remnant, each with their own strengths and weaknesses. And even at her age, Luna understood it perfectly.

"So... Don't use just strength... right?" Luna questioned rubbing her chin. Neo nodded enthusiastically, glad she was getting it. She needed to think of a different way to beat her sister that didn't involve direct confrontation and relied more on either skill or her own brains. And since her sister was obviously the second smartest person in the whole world, the first being her own mommy, she either needed a much smarter idea or find someway to outspeed her sister.

"...Huh! I got it!" Luna said with excitement. As opposed to just telling her, which would've ruined things if she told her what to expect, she just went back to eating her sandwich. But to Neo's enjoyment, she was smiling once more as she ate enthusiastically instead of moping around each bite. She had a solid plan or a solid technique she was about to unleash, and Neo couldn't wait to check it out.

About ten minutes after the heart-to-heart, and a brief bathroom break, the girls found themselves in the middle of the warehouse once more. Luna seemed more focused than ever to defeat her sister once and for all! Or at least hit her once to finally end a training exercise early. Neo had to admit even she was excited and curious what her little sis had in store for her.

"I'm gonna do it, sis. I'm gonna hit you once and for all!" Luna stated proudly. Neo just gave her an excited grin as she gave her the thumbs up.

With one deep breath, she charged. It was a bit suspicious for Luna to just run up and charge her once more this time holding her sword one handed, as if she hadn't taken anything Neo wrote for granted, but she prepared for it all the same. Maybe her idea was to wear her sister down, or maybe it was to test her reactions, the ideas created by a young girl were endless like an eternal flame of imagination!

Just like before, Luna lunged in the air, bat over her head, ready to strike her foe slashing down Neo prepared to dodge backward but she soon realised why Luna came at her one handed as she took aim and fired one of her gauntlets, Neo was forced to dodge down but Luna prepared for that and began retracting the blade, Neo was stuck she could dodge the retracting blade but would be open to the sword strike or dodge the sword strike and with a whip of Luna's wrist she could fling the blade into her, Neo had a proud smile as she dodged the incoming axe blade but got hit on the head with the shethed sword.

As Luna landed she had the biggest smile on her face yelling "I did I finally freaking did!!!"

Neo still had that proud smile on her face to think this girl with one quick pep talk was able to come up with a strategy to finally beat her.

"I did it...hehehe..." Luna couldn't help but shake in a mad fit of giggles as she felt victorious. It wasn't exactly a cheap way to win, seeing how her only objective was to strike her sister, nor was it cheating since her sister surpassed her in all fields. It was a fair trick concocted by the all powerful Luna and her awesome brain of awesomeness! "I did it!" She cheered raising her bat to the sky. "I beat my sister!"

Those few seconds of absolute pride and dignity slowly vanished into nothing but despair and horror, pupils shrinking in fear. "...Oh my god I just beat my sister!" Luna squeaked as she ran over to Neo's side, lifting her up by her head. "Sis, are you ok! I'm sorry!"

"What's going on here?" Cinder asked as she truly showed up, Roman following in behind her. She was all but baffled to see the scene of the tearful Luna next to her sibling on the ground.

"Mommy, I hurt sis!" Luna cried as Cinder rushed over.

She could tell at first glance, what with the swirls in her eyes and her twitching fingers, that Neo was fine. But for the girl who inflicted the possibly massive head injury to her one and only sibling, she thought she possiably just killed her older sister. It wasn't fair! If Luna knew she was so much tougher than her older sister she would've gladly hit her less hard! Why was fate so cruel?!

At the same time, Roman could only look on in disbelief. "No freaking way..." He muttered.

Goon. Goons. Cops. Security. Robots. Not once had anything ever managed to hit Neo before. She was practically a ghost for the way she managed to casually slip through everyone's fingers whenever they tried to hit her, and a viper that stung back tenfold with each and every attack shot against her. Even managing to hit a simple illusion of hers was hard if she managed to get the drop on you ahead of time!

So that just meant this Luna had done the impossible. She not only completed her training of trying to hit her sister, sure 36 attempts over 3 years doesn't sound like much but considering that they expected it to take twice that number it was impressive. They weren't expecting results this quickly, and if Luna's crying was any indication he could tell Neo didn't just let her hit her on purpose. Luna Fall. The girl who managed to do what almost no one else has ever accomplished. As a uncle, he couldn't help but grin impressed.

"The kid's got skill after all..."


	8. Chapter 8

**(Ok her is a character description on Luna as I have realised I have failed to describe her properly)**

**Current age: fourteen (thanks to time skip)**

**Height: 5 foot 6 inches, but 6 foot by the end thanks to time skip**

**Luna has crimson feline like eyes, tiger like ears and tail with red fur and black strips, black shoulder length hair turning red at the ends (like summer rose).**

After all that has happened last year from Kali, Ghira and Blake leaving and seemingly disappearing not to mention as all of Cinders dust being stolen.

Thankfully thanks to a man by the name of junior that Roman seemed to know, Cinder was able to get her operation back up and running relatively quick.

What surprised Cinder the most was the fact that Salem wanted Luna to stay in her domain for a while to train, she explained that she wants to send Luna to Beacon as soon as possible to begin her mission.

So Luna had began packing, she was told to pack for a long stay "oh I can't wait to see granny Salem again, I can play with all the Grimm, say hi to Hazel" Luna started naming all the things she was going to do Corrán listening to every word responding to the best of her ability, over the years Luna had visited Salem's domain a few times, she loved talking to Hazel, Watt even Tyrian had fun story's of the people he's fought he obviously had to censor them to avoid punishment, so needless to say Luna was damn excited to be visiting for a long period.

The door of Luna room opened revealing Cinder "Luna sweetie don't forget to pack your training gear".

"Already did mom"

"Good girl" as Cinder began leaving the room

"Uhhh Mom how intense do you reckon granny Salem's training is" a little worry in Luna's voice

"I'm sure she won't push you to hard so don't worry yourself okay"

"Okie dokie"

(The next day)

As the airship drew ever closer to Salem's domain the trip that once scared Luna now just filled her with excitement "oh I cant wait, I can't wait"

"Calm down Luna before you end up zipping through a window again"

"That only happened once and Neo gave me sugar sticks"

"You didn't have to accept them"

"Do you no who I am, when you offer sugar sticks there is a 95% garentee they will be consumed, she knew what she was doing".

"Oh would you look at that we're here "

As the ship docked and the door opened opened it revealed the burly man known as Hazel standing with his arms crossed.

"Hey Hazel, how ya been"

"I have been quite well Luna, you?"

"That's good ta hear, I've been pretty good"

"Let's walk and talk shall we" said Cinder reaching up to pat Hazels shoulder

"Let's"

As the three walked down the massive halls they were chatting away mostly about random things thay had done during there time apart

They continued walking until they we're stopped by two beowolfs, one of them started poking its snout at Luna's luggage trying to get her to let go.

"I think there her to take your luggage to your room Luna it seems mistress Salem wishes to speak with you as soon as possible"

"Oh ok here you go mr beowolf"

As the beowolfs grabbed the luggage they began running away and the group continued walking down the halls toward the giant Grimm design doors, and as Hazel stopped at the doors he said

"Alright Luna, Cinder I'll speak to you two later, so goodbye for now" and Hazel began walking away

The giant doors slowly started to open revealing the meeting room like room with a large table in the centre surrounded by chair with the one at the head being occupied by Salem herself.

As the doors closed began too close Cinder couldn't help but feel relieved that she wasn't being asked to leave the room, normally when Salem calls Luna to this room it is for private matters.

"Granny Salem it's so good to see you again" said Luna as she ran toward Salem jumping into a hug will Cinder walked up to them.

"It is good to see you to Luna" said Salem as rubbed Luna's head and ears earning a purr from her adopted granddaughter "but there are matters we must attend too in terms of your training"

As Luna got of her grandmothers she responded with a big grin on her face "Yeah I heard from mom that your trainings ment to be real intense" stars appeared in Luna's eyes as she thought of all the possible things she could learn.

"That it is, but before we can begin your training I would like to give you a gift"

"Really?"

"Yes little one but I have to tell you that to receive the gift it will hurt, which is why I asked your mother to come along she will help with the process"

"Don't worry I can handle it I'm tough as steel" stated Luna pounding her chest to try and prove her point.

"Alright let use begin" Salem raised her hand summoning a strange circle with a razor fangs symbol in the center "step inside the circle"

Luna proceeded to step inside the circle as she was instructed, she was a little nervous, she was tough but this was her grandmother who in her eyes was the pinnacle of strength and she was saying it would hurt.

Salem began the process by putting two fingers on Luna chest as she did this black energy started rising from the circle the strings of energy stabbed into Luna's left hand.

"Ahhhhhhh!!!!" Luna screamed in pain this was the worst pain she had ever experienced .

The energy continued to surge through Luna's body, Cinder in desperation to try and help her daughter rushed to her side and grabbed her hand

"It's ok sweetie you can get through this just a little more"

As black lines started appearing all over Luna's body Salem spoke "alright it's almost done hold on a little more" Salem looked to Cinder "you may want to let go"

The black lines stopped spreading but as black mist started surrounding Luna Cinder took a step back.

The black mist started taking shape forming what looked like some sort of armor, black scale like gauntlets along with boots of a similar style aswell as shoulder pads, knee cap guards with a breast plate that covers her chest area but leaves her mid riff exposed aswell as what seemed like a visor over her eyes, the scary thing was her fangs and hand claws seemed to grow sharper her claws turning black.

The pain stopped and Luna looked down at herself shocked to see her new armor

"What is this, is this the gift"

"Yes it is, this is a set of Grimm armor it will boost your physical strength and endurance will equipped, think of it like I'm there to help you whenever you need"

"That's so cool, thank you granny Salem" Luna was about to jump into a tackle hug but Salem raises her hand

"Before you hug me lets put the armor away shall we, to put it away just imagine the black lines going back into your left hand"

Luna closed her eyes and did as instructed soon the armor dispersed into mist, her fangs and claws returned to normal and the black lines rushed back to Luna's hand turning into a open mouthed razorfang tattoo the bottom jaw on the thumb and the top on her pointer finger.

As she opens her eyes realising the armor was gone she looked to Salem and as Salem predicted tackle hugged her

"Thank you granny Salem even if it hurt like crazy I still love the gift"

"I'm glad you like it so much" said Salem a genuine smile on her face "now let's talk about you training" an evil grin replacing the smile.

"Hehe oh no" Luna laughed nervously seeing the evil grin on her grandmother face.

(2 years later)

(Luna is now six feet tall with a very athletic build she is this height forever now)

"Is that all you've got?" Tyrian Screamed as he adjusted himself back into combat position.

"No, but if I give you all I've got then nothing of you will be left to give to." Said a grinning Luna.

Tyrian launched himself at her to continue the spar that the two of them were having, while Hazel and Watts where both watching, Watts clearly more entertained.

"It's like watching two kids having a fight over candy, don't you agree?" Watts was with no doubt enjoying every moment of the fight.

While Hazel only said. "As long as they don't forget that they are just practicing I don't care."

"Luna, Tyrian that's enough sparring now" said Salem as she walked into the room you have to get ready to go Luna"

"Oh right I completely forgot, thanks for reminding me"

With a burst of lightning Luna was gone rushing to her room to begin packing her stuff as she entered her room she paused looking around, she had grown so comfortable to this room to this castle she'd spent around two years here what would it be like to leave, would she even feel comfortable at home those thoughts were shaken from her mind as she thought about how she'd get to see Sis and uncle Roman again sure she'd miss everyone here but still she couldn't wait to go home.

She finished packing up her things until she got to her nightstand and she saw the halfed gold pendant "hey who knows maybe she'll be there" a single tear rolled down her face before she wiped it away "don't be silly Luna" she grabbed the pendant and wrapped it around her neck and walked out the room.

As Luna left the room she was met by Salem, and as they walked to dock they started conversing

"I really loved my time here granny Salem"

"I'm glad you enjoyed yourself, but sadly all good things must come to an end"

"Very true " Luna responded looking up with a smile "but don't worry I'm sure I'll see you again real soon, and beside" Luna stuck up her left hand showing the tattoo mark "we're always connected"

And as they reached the dock Salem looked around to see if anyone was around confirming the coast was clear Salem smiled a genuine smile a gave Luna a big hug "I'll see you soon Luna…. I love you"

Luna was taken aback by this I mean she hugged Salem all the time but she mainly just got pats in return but here and now her grandmother was full on hugging her, she accepted the hug hugging back and responding "Love you too granny Salem"

Luna then boarded the airship instantly going to the window to look out she saw her grandma waving goodbye will smiling, Luna waved back and as the airship took of she looked at her Grimm tatto smiling from ear to ear.

As the airship took of off and started shaking the smile Luna once had was replaced with a look of discomfort as Luna felt something she never had before motion sickness, Luna ran for the only trash can on the ship and she threw up whatever food she had ingested that day.

"What the hell, I've never gotten motion sick before why is it happenin now uggghh" a vague memory of Shade told her that this might happen one day but why today why.

Luna spent the rest of the flight felling completely miserable and when the airship finally landed on top of Cinders penthouse Luna felt absolute bliss as the effects of the motion sickness faded.

"Oh my dust sweet relief"

The doors of the airship opened up to reveal all of Luna's family Cinder, Neo, uncle Roman all of them smiling and with the motion sickness effects disappearing Luna sprinted toward them getting Cinder and Neo in a tackle hug Roman casually dodged

"Mom, Sis it's so good to see you guys again"

"It's good to see you too starlight my how you've grown"

"I told you drinking milk would pay off" Luna responded a cocky smirk on her face

As they all got Neo began signing "I'm so glad your back, you have no idea how boring it is around here without you" a look of dread took over Neo's face as she realized just how tall Luna had gotten will she had been away, she began signing again

"What did they do to make you so tall"

"I told you I drink milk nothing more nothing less"

"I told you you should've drank more milk instead of eating all that ice cream Neo" Roman chipped in his usual cocky smirk

As Neo began glaring at Roman, Roman barely noticed as Luna brought him in for a bear hug

"It's so good to see you too uncle Roman"

"It's ….good to….see you….too kiddo….. but…..need ….aiiiiir"

Luna released Roman from the hug smiling as she usually did "I'm sorry uncle Roman I'm just so excited

"Well your gonna be even more so when ya see the party we got set up"

"OMG b day party woohoo" Luna began zipping into the penthouse as everyone else followed

The party was spent like a typical party would with Luna opening her presents Neo and Roman got her a joined gift in the form of a dust pistol the barrel of the pistol was longer than average with an inscription on the side reading **God ain't with you now** as well as 4 exploding 13mm fire dust clips. (Basically the Jackel)

Luna was beyond overjoyed and so glad that Tyrian had taught her how to use firearms properly then she looked toward her mother, Cinder past a small box to Luna opening it reavealed a small locket Luna picked it up and opened it up there was a picture of everyone Cinder, Neo, Roman and Luna all together, looking around Luna saw everyone had one and Neo began signing

"We're all a big happy family"

"Yeah" Luna put the pendant around her neck smiling away

(One week later)

Luna was walking around the streets late at night just enjoying a nice walk quietly singing her favorite song about a man with a dragon soul

"Beware, beware the Dragonborn comes"

She stopped as she came across a little dust shop.

"Awww Yeah I could totally go for some lightning right now"

Looking up at the sign Luna read the name as she walked inside "from dust till dawn huh funny name"

Ding*

"Welcome to from dust till dawn for all your dust and ammo needs, how can I help you miss" said an old man from across the counter

"Could you cut up two yellow dust crystals into chunks for me"

"Of course miss, please wait in the magazine section and I'll call you when I'm done"

"Alrighty" said Luna as she began walking

With the magazine section in view Luna saw a girl in a red cloak upon closer inspection Luna saw there was what look liked a collapsed weapon as she kept looking the girl was reading the latest issue of weapons magazine will wearing headphones Luna ignored her and started browsing the magazines.

Ding*

"Welcome to from dust ti….Please just take the money!!!!"

Luna's ears perked up hearing the scared old man "don't worry old man we ain't her for ya money, grab the dust"

As the men spread around the store Luna took notice that one of the men began walking toward her and the other girl holding a red machete

"Hey hands where I can see em" Luna ignored him "hey ya deaf or somethin I said UGH!!" the man was cut off as he received a gut punch from Luna causing him to pass out

The red cloaked girl seemed to not take notice to this Luna tapped her on the shoulder and as the girl turned around Luna gestured for her to take her headphones off and to stay quiet.

The girl did so and whispered "what's going on"

"This store is being robbed I see you have a weapon can you use it"

The girl nodded and they began sneaking toward the front of the store looking around the corner to see the men there were two loading dust into vials and three others at the counter one aiming a gun at the old man and another beside him holding a machete and the last just standing there a cocky grin on his face he was obviously the boss as he wore the most standoutish outfit which consisted of a brown bomber jacket with a bear design on the arms and back, black jeans open at the knee caps and black fingerless gloves again with bear designs on them.

"The berserk grizzlies? Why the hell are they here they know this is uncle Romans turf?" Luna thought

"Hey boss Gerry hasn't come back should I go check on em"

"Yeah go check see what taken em so long"

The thug with the machete began walking toward Luna and the girl and as soon as he was within pouncing distance Luna and the girl sprung forth in a burst of lightning and rose petals punching and kicking the man square in the face and gut throwing him and them through the store window.

As the man landed hitting the road knocking him unconscious Luna quickly put on sunglasses and covered her mouth with a fire pattern bandana and as she looked to the girl she was left aww struck as the girl unfolded her weapon revealing a giant scythe Luna just thought "how the hell can she even carry that"

She was snapped from her thought as the thug boss looked out the window clearly angry he looked to his men

"Well what the hell ya waiting for get em"

The two other thugs ran out the store one ran toward Luna and the girl drawing his weapon will the other stuck behind aiming his gun, Luna's response was to counter the machete strike deflecting the sword drawing her gun and firing taking out one thug, as she did this the red cloaked girl pulled a trigger on her scythe sending herself forward past the thug and using the momentum slammed the flat side of her scythe on the man knocking him out cold.

Luna and the girl looked back at the boss "USELESS THE LOT A YA" he yelled as he pulled the pin on a dust grenade and threw it

The girl aimed down launching herself into the air to avoid the explosion fear on her face as she noticed Luna's lack of movement

As fire exploded from the grenade Luna pulled down her bandana sucking in the air the fire paused and redirected into Luna mouth and she began swallowing

The thug boss just looked shocked "FUCK THIS SHIT IM OUT" he ran at almost inhuman speeds and as the girl landed and Luna stopped eating they looked around and noticed the man climbing up a ladder they looked back at the old man and spoke in unison "you okay" as the old man nodded they looked toward the thug and again disappeared in a burst of lightning and rose petals.

As they made it to the roof they noticed the man was growing increasingly agitated "Where the hell are they" as he turned around anger covered his face "damn you kids are persistent"

As he finished an airship lowered from the sky and the man crawled inside "Well what took ya so long" he said to a scrared grunt

"Sorry boss we didn't mean to take so long honest"

"Whatever just get use out of HEEERRREE!!!" the man began yelling as the airship began shaking "aww crap we got a huntress" pushing his another grunt out of the way to start flying the ship "start firing use whatever ya need just get rid of em"

All the will Luna and the cloaked girl just looked at the huntress attacking the airship the women had blonde hair green eyes with glasses, wearing a white top and blackplants aswell as a purple cap all will holding a riding crop

The huntress countered all the attacks from the grunts, the cloaked girl shifted her scythe into a sniper rifle and began firing but cause of all the shaking of the airship she kept missing then the thugs brought out the big guns as they launched a ice dust bomb toward the group Luna and the huntress jumped back to avoid the blast the huntress dragging the cloaked girl back with her powers.

Thanks to that the thugs managed to get away leaving Luna, the huntress and the cloaked girl alone on the roof, Luna was about to ask the huntress a question but was interrupted but the cloaked girl who seemed to switch into fangirl mode as she stood in front of the huntress

"Are you a huntress, can I have your autograph"

Luna just thought "god damn fan girls"

**(Okay to confirm with everyone this is the last major time skip Luna is now 16 so yes she'll be going to beacon a year early)**


	9. Chapter 9

Luna was cursing herself mentally she couldn't believe she was forced to come down to the police station because of her involvement in stopping the robbery and now she was in an interagation room, the cloaked girl was also brought down and from what she could tell was in another room.

The door of the room opened revealing a black haired women with red eyeswearing mostly black, Luna recognized the women it was her long lost auntie and she was terrified but she tried her best to compose herself

"So will I have the pleasure of seeing the face of the person I'm questioning" Luna very VERY reluctantly took off her bandana and sunglasses revealing her face

Those crimson eyes the black hair with red tips the ears the tail the tanned skin there where to many matches for it to be anybody else

"Lu…Lu….LUNA!!! Is that you?"

"Rachel"

"I…I……I can't believe after all these years it's you I finally found you, what but where's your brother where's Shade"

"Tch why would I care where he is, he left me behind"

"What?, that cant be true why would he do that"

Anger clear on Luna's face "Don't know and Don't care"

The door opened revealing the huntress from before "please Rachel let's get back on track just ask her the question already the other girl already answered"

"Ok Glydna forgive me if I want to talk to my niece who has been missing for years, emm, Alright Luna I have a question do you now a man named Ozpin?"

"Yes, he's the Headmaster of Beacon Academy"

"Correct and thanks to professor Goodwitch here he has seen your combat prowess and wants to offer you a place at Beacon, do you accept?"

"A place at Beacon academy huh, Alright I'll accept"

"That great to hear I'm sure you'll do great there"

"Can I leave now"

"Well I was thinking we could talk a bit you know try and catch up after all these years"

"No"

"Bu….But why are you mad, I swear I had no idea the orphanage was abusive, If I had known I would have…"

"I'm not mad at that I'm mad at the fact that you don't seem to get it"

"Get what?"

"That ive moved on from my old life from you, from Shade from all that, I have a new loving family that I don't want you interacting with, so I ask again Can, I, Leave"

Glynda cut in "yes you may leave miss fall, but please make sure to stay out of anymore trouble"

"Fall?"

"It's my last name Rachel, like I said I've moved on" stated Luna as she walked out the room, Glynda could have sworn she saw Luna's shadow shake as she left.

As Luna walked out of the police station to see the girl in the red cloak she walked over to her putting a hand on her shoulder "hey theres my partner in crime"

"Eep, oh wait it's just you"

"Yep, So you ok ya waiting for someone"

"Yeah I'm ok my sister should be here soon to pick me up"

Luna looked up to see a girl with blonde hair running toward them "Ruby!!!"

"Speak of the Grimm and they shall appear" said Ruby with a sigh

As soon as the girl made it over to Ruby she embraced her in a massive bear hug "oh my dust Ruby are you ok why were you taken to the police station, what happened!?"

"Yang…..please……air" Yang dropped Ruby "I'm sorry I'm just worried"

"Don't worry Yang I'm fine"

"Ok as long as your sure"

"I'm sure"

"Alright well in any case you going to introduce me to your friend here" Yang said gesturing toward Luna

"Oh yeah right this the person who helped me but I never got your name"

Luna extended her hands towards the girls "Fall, Luna Fall nice to meet ya"

Both girls took her hands Yang being a little surprised Luna was matching her frequently named monstrous grip and Ruby just surprised at you strong Luna's grip was

"Well I'm Yang Xiao Long nice to meet you too"

"My names Ruby Rose thanks for earlier"

"Think nothin of it I hate them damn grizzlies anyways"

"That's good to here but sadly we gotta head home before our dad kills use" said Yang rubbing the back off her head

"Same here I'm nearly past my curfew thanks to this inconvenience" said Luna as she began walking away "and who knows maybe we'll meet again"

As soon as Luna was out of earshot she pulled out her scroll realising she had about a dozen from both Neo and her Mom, she began calling her mom the scroll barely getting two rings before a very worried Cinder picked up.

"Luna where are you, what happened!?"

"Well how do I say this ummm, I got into a fight with a high ranking member of the grizzlies who managed to get away, then got taken away by a huntress to the police station where I met my former auntie who told me that Ozpin invited me to Beacon and I accepted" Luna finished waiting for a response.

"So yeah that's what happened"

"Well then I guess mission accomplished" said Cinder as she tried to sound like she had this all planned

"I guess so but it is kind of sudden so could you help my pack when I ge home"

"Of course"

With that Luna hung up and zoomed away in a burst of lightning, she quickly arrived at the entrance to the penthouse using her scroll to unlock the door and as so as she she was inside she was welcomed by Neo jumping up hugging her will Luna lifted her off the ground

"I'm sorry for worrying you Neo I'm fine though I swear" Neo stopped hugging and Luna places her down as she began signing with a smile "congrats on getting into Beacon a year early"

"Aww shucks your makin me blush"

"Starlight remember you need to pack" Cinder called from Luna's room

"Oh yeah, sorry Neo I need to pack again"

"No problem"

They spent the rest of that evening packing for Luna's departure, Neo joining in to speed up the process.

(The next day)

As Luna made her way onto the airship she stood by a wall waiting for takeoff she soon took notice to a familiar looking red cloak wearing girl aswell as a blonde she began walking over.

"I can't believe my baby sisters coming to Beacon with me, this is the best day ever"

"Please stop" said a groaning Ruby

"Hey Yang, Ruby look at that we did meet again"

"Luna that you, cool your going to Beacon too"

"You bet Yang a year early and everything its great"

"That's nothin Ruby here is getting in two years early, now that's somethin"

"Wow that's impressive, wait did Ozpin offer you a place too?"

"Yep he saw my skills and offered me a place"

"Same here"

"And Yang please stop hyping me up"

"But I'm so proud of you"

"It was nothing sis"

"What do you mean? It was incredible"

"I agree" nodded Luna

"Everyone at Beacon will think you're the bees knees"

"I don't want to be the bees knees I just want to be a normal girl with normal knees"

Yang and Luna spoke in unison "what's up with you aren't you excited"

"Of course I'm excited, it just I got moved ahead two years I'm nervous I don't want people to think I'm special or anything.

But you are special.

The girls' attention is drawn to the on board screen the news on Vale News Network playing, talking about a robbery and showing Roman's mug shot.

Luna thought "Ha So the heist went off that's good ta hear"

"The robbery was led by nefarious criminal Roman Torchwick, who continues to evade authorities. If you have any information on his whereabouts, please contact the Vale Police Department. Back to you, Lisa.

The mugshot changes to Lisa Lavender, with a photo of faunes demonstrators holding signs saying "WE ARE NOT ANIMALS!" followed by an image of the logo of a growling red wolf's head with three scratch marks.

The airship began to takeoff and Luna realised her mistake as she ran to the bathroom and began emptying all of what was in her stomach

Thank you, Cyril. In other news, this Saturday's Faunus Civil Rights protest turned dark when members of the White Fang disrupted the ceremony. The once peaceful organization has now disrupted...

The news feed is cut off as a hologram of Glynda replaces it.

"Hello, and welcome to Beacon!"

"Who's that?"

"My name is Glynda Goodwitch".

"Oh".

"You are among a privileged few who have received the honor of being selected to attend this prestigious academy! Our world is experiencing an incredible time of peace, and as future Huntsmen and Huntresses, it is your duty to uphold it. You have demonstrated the courage needed for such a task, and now it is our turn to provide you with the knowledge and the training to protect our world."

"Oh, wow! Look, you can see Signal from up here! As she presses up against the window, I guess home isn't too far after all!

"Beacon's our home, now".

Yang turns around to see a blonde boy wobbling toward her holding his mouth grouning she moves out of his way as he runs to the nearest bathroom

"Ha guess the view isn't for everyone"

"Yang whatever you do don't look down"

"What's wrong Rubes why wouldn't I want to look down"

As Yang looks down she realizes that she had puke all over her boots

"Gross, gross, gross, gross, gross, gross, gross, gross!"

"Get away! Get away from me! Get away from me! Get away from me! Get away from me!"

Yang had spent the rest of the flight cleaning, Luna just stood around being her awkward self and Luna just spent it puking her guts out.

As the airship landed and stopped shaking Luna just felt sweet relief she zipped out of the airship happy to be on solid ground, paused as she saw Yang running off with a group of people wondering where Ruby was Luna began looking around. She saw Ruby spinning around before she crashed into someone Luna instantly recognized

"What are you doing"

"Uh sorry"

"Sorry!? Do you have any idea how much damage you could have caused"

"Uhhh"

"Gimme that! This is dust mined and purified from the Schnee quarry"

"Uhhh"

"What are you brain dead, dust, fire, lightning, wind, ice"

As the Schnee named the different elements she began waving a red dust vial and she was either to stubborn or just oblivious to notice the dust leaked out.

Luna walked over "hey princess"

"Are you even listening to me! Is any of this sinking in"

"Hey princess"

"What do you have to say for yourself?"

"Aww hell with it" Luna sucked in the air the dust paused and redirected toward Luna's mouth as she began swallowing down the dust

Finally taking notice to her the Schnee turned to face Luna "what did you just do"

"What I did was stop you from blowing up the entrance to the school" said Luna very sternly

"How dare you speak to me that way you dirty fau…" the words died in her throat

As Luna looked down on the Schnee giving her a death glare "what was that, dirty faunes, was that what you were going to say"

"I…I" the Schnee was too nervous

"Listen princess there are a few things that tick me off, 1 is people needlessly getting mad at others even after they apologized and 2 is RACISTS!!!"

As Luna raised her voice another figure walked into the conversation she had raven black hair with a bow was wearing all black and white with yellow eyes to boot, Luna was left shocked this girl she looked so much like her there was no way bar the bow she looked just like an older Blake

"Heiress actually, Weiss Schnee Heiress to the Schnee Dust Company"

Whatever fear that was over Weiss washed away as she finally received recognition "Ha finally some recognition, yes I am…." She was cut off yet again

"The same company infamous for its controversial labour forces and questionable business partners"

"What how dare, The nerve of grah" Weiss just began walking away in a huff as her servants began picking up her fallen luggage

"She's just stubborn. A lot of the Schnees are." She commented, preparing to walk away with her book.

As Ruby began to turn to try and thank the figure she was already walking away quickly followed by Luna

"Hey wait up"

"What is it"

"I just noticed the book you have there is that The Man With Two Souls story." Luna pointed out. The other girl was actually caught off guard and mild interest as she looked back.

"You... know about the story?" She replied curiously.

"Just bits and pieces here and there, really." Luna swayed a little, hands behind her back. "I used to have a friend named Blake when I was younger, she used to read it to me a lot. She said it was one of her favorites."

"Used to... wait a minute!" Luna nearly jumped as the older girl suddenly jumped her, taking off her sunglasses and bandana to gaze at the rest of the tiger faneuses face. What she saw was something she never expected.

"Luna!?" Luna was filled with joy to know she was correct.

"OHMIGOSH! BLAAAKE!" Luna shouted with excitement, lifting Blake with a big hug.

"Whoa, hey easy! Hahaha." Blake chuckled as she was put down by the girl, nearly falling backwards as she stumbled.

Neither of them could believe it. It was a dream that was too good to be true. In the unlikeliest of places, the lowest of probabilities, the impossibilities of every single gamble in the world, here they were. Two long lost friends suddenly reunited after years of being apart.

"What?" Blake just watched as Luna slowly began walking behind her, trying to figure out what the younger girl was trying to do.

flip*

"AH!" Blake yelped in embarrassment, quickly pulling down the back of her skirt that Luna flipped over. "Luna! What are you doing?!"

"Where's your tail?" Luna asked curiously.

"My ta... Oh." Now she got it. It was probably the only reason Luna douted her identity, remembering the fond times when Luna was younger and they had there secret tail shake.

With at least half a blush compared to her old one, Blake scratched her cheek a little. "Um... Well I'm mostly just keeping it under my clothes when I can help it."

"About that, why are you hiding your Faunus parts and all?" Luna wondered. "I mean you got nothing to worry about, right?"

"Yeah but..."

"Let go of my ears!" A voice cried out, catching their attention.

Up ahead of the pathway, both girls watched as several guys were teasing around another Faunus girl, a bunny one at that. They just laughed and grinned to themselves while the poor bunny-girl was hassling to get her ears back, the iron grips they had making it all but impossible.

"That's why." Blake said.

"Hey!" Luna yelled running over.

"Luna, wait!" Blake tried to stop her, running after her.

"Huh? Oh look another animals come to help it's friend?" The head of this little group grinned.

crack*

"Argh !" The guy yelled, lying on the ground. The girl wasted no time quickly running behind Luna's side, rubbing her sore ears.

"Thank you." She thanked.

"You stupid faunes?" One of the other guys stepped forth, sporting a thin haircut surrounding his mohawk."

"Easy now Russel," the head replied annoyed, "this animal just doesn't know what's going on." He grinned getting up and walking up to Luna. There was no way he was gonna take any shit from a dirty animal. "Listen 'ere, bitch, there's a bit of an order on how things run around here. You're below use plan and simple." He gestured to his crew.

"That simple, huh?" Luna replied, lowering her head.

"Yup! So I think you know what to do here."

"You read my mind."

crack!*

"Ow! My balls!" He yelped, holding his precious jewels. "Why you little-!"

"What's going on over here?" Glynda spoke out as she neared the group, looking just as happy as when Luna first met her.

Not at all.

"Geh, we weren't doing anything teach," he lied grinning, "we were just showing our friend here around school, then this punk came outta nowhere and started hitting us."

"That's not true!" The Fanus girl argued. "You blokes were hassling me and she was the one saving me!"

"Heh, can you listen to her teach? The poor girl's so traumatized she doesn't know what's going on." He chuckled.

"You want an reenactment with my foot this time?" Blake yelled back, not letting anyone pick on her fellow Faunus or close friend.

"Enough, everyone!" Glynda yelled adjusting her glasses. "I won't have any fighting that isn't part of the school exams or festivals. Any more problems out of any of you and you'll find yourself back on the ships straight on out of here. Do I make myself clear?"

"Of course teach, you won't get any trouble out of us." The head promised innocently. "Ain't that right fellas?" He enjoyed the sight of the others grinning with him, nodding here and there in agreement. "Welp, we better head on out of here. Have a good day teach! Heheh." It did irritate Glynda how gullible they thought she was, but seeing how she only caught this conversation from Cardin's yelping, she couldn't say who was responsible without absolute proof.

"And you, Miss Fall," She continued, looking back to Luna, "I'll be keeping my eye on you from here on out. Are we clear?"

"The hell?!" Luna yelled in disbelief. "Why am I the only one singled out? They're the ones who started it!"

"Because you seem to find yourself at the center of any trouble I come across." She noted. "Let's try not to make a habit of that from here on out, and we'll get along just fine." And with this, she carried on strolling away.

"Oh come ooon..." Luna moaned, drooping her arms in depression. Yup, that seemed like the typical world she learned about. The right people getting blamed, the wrong people getting off scot-free. Just a typical day in your everyday-average corrupted world.

"Umm..." The sound of the Faunus brought Luna out of it. "Not to sound ungrateful or anything, but you really shouldn't have done that." She frowned. "Cardin's just going to make things harder for you from here on out."

"Would you have preferred if we just ignored it?" Luna replied crossing her arms. "I can't stand the sight of bullying anyway, no matter who's doing it." Blake smiled at this. That was the Luna she used to know and love as a kid, always wanting to be a hero like from the cartoons and movies they used to watch, sometimes playing hero and monster with her older sister.

"Well... thanks anyway." She said with a small bow. "My names Velvet Scarlatina."

"Nice to meet'cha!" Luna smiled showing her fangs as the trio walked down the path together. "And this is Blake."

"Hey." She greeted Velvet with a simple wave. "We've already met." She added.

"Nice seeing you again, Blake. And nice to meet you to Miss Fall." Velvet smiled back.

"Ha don't be so formal" Luna just patted Velvet on the back "you can just call me Luna."

Maybe this wouldn't be impossible after all. The teacher was going to be a hassle to no end, possibly more teachers as time went on, but at least when it came to making friends it appeared easy enough. For the rest of the stroll the trio just chatted, Luna and Velvet getting to know one another better and Blake recalling some of the times they played together as kids. And as long as Luna kept the mission in mind, she didn't have to worry about making any friends around here.

Her priority was gathering information, nothing more or less. So as long as she kept that in mind, she didn't have to worry about hurting anyone she became attached to, whether emotionally or physically. It was the beginning of a grand journey she wouldn't forget for the years to come, and long struggle to completing her mission, one that would certainly be easier with the friends by her side who knew the answers to anything!

"Ah, here we are." Velvet announced as the trio finally reached their destination.

Even something as common as this was a world of wonder for Luna. The large crystalline dome, the gigantic structures, seeing the many people across the large auditorium, the hundreds of different faces of Hunters and Huntresses alike, all with their unique weapons and purpose for being here.

"Luna!" She heard Yang yelling out, waving at her. "We saved you a spot!" Looking back to her friends with a smile, they nodded amongst themselves before all heading to the same spot. While they didn't mind the added groupie, Yang and Ruby were sorta hoping to get to know Luna more by themselves . "Hey, I'm Yang and this is Ruby." She greeted with a wave and a gesture.

"The name's Velvet Scarlatina." The bunny girl greeted with a firm handshake.

"Hey, I'm Blake." Luna's favorite of friends greeted, waving.

"So, how's your first day going, kitty cat?" Yang asked curiously.

"Well-...did you just call me "kitty cat"?" Luna questioned looking back.

"Well what else was I supposed to call ya?" Yang shrugged. "Not really many other names that sound catchy or anything".

"I wonder if I'd have this problem if my animal features were covered..." Luna muttered examining herself. "Anyway, the first day's been great, I met up with my old friend Blake here, so yeah good unless you count the fact that when I try to be a good student and stop a bunch of bullies, who I'm pretty sure I just made enemies with, then I get yelled at by the teacher and I swear she has it out for me!"

"I don't think Ms. Goodwitch actually has it out for you, Luna," Blake said trying to cheer her up "she just cares a lot about all the students as a whole."

"Yeah but I do agree with you about Glynda and all that." Velvet replied. "She seemed bothered by Luna in particular for some reason."

"Well, she is the one who arrested me," Luna mentioned, "and she didn't seem too happy with me during the interrogation process. Either way she's not even the scary one! It's that white haired racist girl, who tried to insult me when I stopped her from blowing up the cliffside, and I'm pretty sure that- "

"You!" Weiss suddenly shouted from behind.

"Ah!' Luna yelped cloaking her hand in fire. "The hell don't just yell out of nowhere like that!"

"Woah Luna calm down turn off the fire please" said Blake trying to calm her friend down

"You're lucky we weren't blown off the side of the cliff!" She berated looking at Ruby not paying any attention to the fact Luna's hand caught on fire

"No you where lucky I was there to eat the dust before you accidentally set it…."

She was cut off as Weiss held out a pamphlet to her face. "What's this?

"The Schnee Dust Company is not responsible for any injuries or damages sustained while operating a Schnee Dust Company product. Although not mandatory, the Schnee Family highly encourages their customers to read and familiarize themselves with this easy-to-follow guide to Dust applications and practice in the field."

Luna could only feel herself growing slightly angrier with each passing second, slowly nodding off as her pupils shrank with each passing syllable. How did this girl process while moving her mouth so quickly at the same time!?

"Grrrr..." Luna nodded off, eye twitching cause of all the anger.

"You really want to start making things up to me?" Weiss asked.

"Oh! Absolutely!" Luna responded completely sarcastically.

"Read this and don't ever talk to me again." She ordered before marching away, shoving the pamphlet into Luna's hands as she did.

"Hrah..." Luna moaned.

This is what Blake hated most about the Schnees. They could act all high and mighty they wanted, provide charity events and auctions to keep up appearances, preach the practices about using dust wisely to any person in the world, yet deep down they're nothing more than money-grubbing jerks who exploit labor forces to do what they want them to do. They don't care for the people around them, they don't care for anyone or anything that gets in their way and gets torn down, all they care about is making a nice profit. It didn't mean necessarily they treated people bad personally, but they just thought so high and mighty of themselves that they thought they could act in any particular manner of their choosing to just about anyone!

At least that's how Blake saw it. And why wouldn't she? Nearly half the protests from her family when she was with them were always involving the Schnee Dust Company in some way. Whether it was their exploitations, their unethical dealings and trade secrets, or their discrimination against the Faunus workers compared to others, there was always something they did that the Faunus hated. And *shockingly, they never seemed to care even when the Faunus protested, they just made things harder.

Most importantly, they messed with her friend.

"Don't let her bother you Luna," Blake tried to comfort before looking back to the Schnee girl, speaking louder for her sake, "after all, Schnee's aren't known for their hospitality, just their methods of making a quick buck." Those words stopped the Schnee girl in her tracks.

"Excuse me!?" She yelled, marching back to Blake as she glared into her eyes. "Would you mind repeating that to me again?"

"I'm just saying, I'm surprised you have as many workers as you do if you treat them any better than you treat Luna". She stated. Velvet nodded in agreement as she looked sternly to the Schnee girl. She would've preferred if Blake didn't try to hid her own Faunus heritage, but she respected her privacy all the same.

"How dare you!" She snapped back. "I don't know what your problem is, but the Schnee Dust Company provides help and services for the rest of the world thank you very much. And we don't discriminate any of our workers."

"Oh yeah, and I'm sure mining collapse back in Mistral nearly a decade ago wasn't abandoned due to the fact the trapped miners just *happened* to be all Faunus either, huh?"

"I'll have you know the Schnee Company did everything in it's power save all of it's workers at that time! The people trapped below were already declared dead."

"And I'm sure you gave everything in your power to save them, just like you saved the humans above in only a single day..."

"For your information-!"

The argument was beginning to reach the point where both Velvet and Yang were a little freaked out, the two girls planning to argue against the other to their last breath even if it killed them. You could practically see the sparks created by the amount of friction these two were creating, the sparks merging into pure bolts as they connected to each others' eyes!

Out of all of this, only one of the several girls actually found this scene to be peaceful.

"Grrrrrah," Luna raged grabbing Weisses head to turn it to her, "try talking to my friend like that some more see what happens!" If looks could kill, Weiss would've been dead, brought back to life, then killed again as Luna stared her with the most terrifying death glare possible.

"Ahem..." The voice over the speaker caught the attention of the fellow students, Luna and co. included, all gazing at the sight of the headmaster at the center stage. It was Professor Ozpin, standing next to Glynda. "I'll keep this brief. You have traveled here today in search of knowledge. To hone your craft an acquire new skills. And when you have finished, you plan to dedicate your life to the protection of people and your fellow students." Ruby smiled, looking among her fellow friends with excitement. It was a decent change of pace to see everyone smiling, or close to it for some, as opposed to glaring angrily at each other. "But I look amongst you and all I see is wasted energy, and misguided deeds."

Luna's felt a smirk on her face at the very last words but it quickly disappeared. She couldn't explain why but looking at Ozpin made her nervous, but she was almost positive that he was looking at her out of all the people he was looking at her. That couldn't be right, could it? After all, there were plenty of other questionable people around here, like that Cardin guy she could see at the front of the crowd.

"Students in need of purpose, direction." He continued. "You assume knowledge will free you of this, but your time at this school will prove that knowledge can only carry you so far. It's up to you to take the first step." Luna mentally nodded in agreement.

While she didn't like to agree with anything her fellow enemies were saying, she did at least understand their meaning. In a way, it was a lot like her. She already had the purpose she needed, she just needed to direct that energy all into focus and in one direction. And he was wrong about the knowledge not freeing her. She needed the knowledge, she needed to know all she could about Beacon and it's staff! As soon as she gathered that, she could leave this accursed place, return to her loving family once more. And she just needed to take the first step, hopefully this time not into some stupid stuck up girl's luggage.

With his announcement done, he walked off stage as Glynda continued the following announcements. "You will all gather in the ballroom tonight. Tomorrow, your initiation begins. Be ready. You are dismissed."

"He seemed kinda off, like he wasn't all there." Yang commented .

"I guess that just comes with being the headmaster to hundreds of students." Velvet shrugged.

"Must be some stress getting to him or something."

It was a feeling Luna was trying to shrug off. No matter how much she convinced herself, she was positive Ozpin was already getting a grasp on her true motives for being here. The more she continued to act like a normal student, she was sure she could maintain her secrecy, but at the same time that would also make her task take even longer.

And every second that she spent here was another second closer to her goals being crushed.

With the evening drawn near, the sun slowly descended as it shrouded the students of Beacon under the nights sky. As instructed from the teacher herself, many of the students found themselves returned to the ballroom that very day, all dressed in their own colorful and unique Pajamas,and ready for bed with numerous sleeping bags and pillows stretched across the long ground.

Luna herself, naturally, was no exception. She sported her own red fire print tank top and her favorite little black slippers. She wore a brightly-colored orange pair of of pants, patterned with numerous flames spreading across the sides. And, as one of her more favorite pieces of sleepware, a dark sleeping mask with grimm-like eyes stitched on the front.

It was within this peaceful moment of time that she found herself with her sleeping bag next to Blake, the younger yet taller girl resting her head on the back of Blake's legs while the older girl read to herself lying on her stomach near some candlelight, pausing every now and then as Luna continued to chat. Blake herself made absolutely sure she was situated within her sleeping bag before reading, not wanting the small chance of her tail being exposed at any point.

"-and after that, our moms made us take a bath to wash off all the flour." Luna said, reminiscing the good times they had.

"I remember." Blake said smiling a little. "We used to hate taking baths back then, it would always give use goosebumps whenever we touched water."

"Hahaha, I remember use running out of the tub terrified butt-naked, it took our moms forever to find use hiding under my mom's bed."

"Hey girls!" The chipper voice of Yang spoke out, carrying her sleeping bag with her Ruby walking in tow. "Room for two more?

"Knock yourselfs out." Luna replied, watching as Yang and Ruby set up there sleeping bags next to Blake.

"Ah, that's better. Hard to find an open space with so many people spread around here." She commented, leaning to her side to face the other two. "Nice bow."

"I thought there was plenty of space around the edges though?" Blake wondered.

"Yeah, but I prefer not having a chatting buddy with only the wall." She said rolling her eyes, gazing back to the numerous people around. "So, what'cha think of this place? It's like one big slumber party, huh?"

"Yeah, I guess," Luna said looking around, "though I don't think my mom would like all the boys around here..."

"I know I do, mrrrow..." Yang mewed, unaware of how it looked to see a girl pretending to be a cat right next to a hidden Faunus like Blake or an open Faunes like Luna.

"Really Yang really" said looking at her sister disappointedly

"Oh sorry was that insensitive"

"Yeah kind of"

"So what's the deal with you two anyway? You guys know each other or something?" trying to change the topic

"Eh, I guess you could say that." Blake replied closing her book.

"Our families kinda worked together a long time ago, so we practically grew up with one another." Luna explained, being careful not to delve too far into the details.

"We always met up at least once a month for the weekend, so we hung out ever since we were little. We were best friends kinda like sisters if ya think about it."

"Yeah..." It sounded pretty nice to Yang.

"Until a few years ago when our parents stopped working, I knew Luna ever since she was in diapers."

"Mmmh I'll have you know I was practically potty trained by then!" Luna said blushing with puffed cheeks. "And I wasn't wearing diapers, they were pull-ups."

"Not at night they weren't."

"Blaaaake!" Luna grumbled again, throwing her pillow at the Faunus head. Yang couldn't help but laugh at the scene before her. They definitely acted like sisters.

"Sounds like you two had the best of times, huh?" Yang felt some familiarity of what they had.

"For me, it was me my dad and my sis growing up, We had plenty of friends at school."

"Well that sounds great in my opinion." Luna commented. "Honestly, I was kinda sheltered growing up. My mom always wanted to keep me close, so unless I was with Blake and my Big Sis, I was usually around the house 24/7."

"But you had a pretty great place to live Luna." Blake said handing her back the pillow. "I remember how it always looked like a castle in apartment form."

"Yeah, but you spend your whole life growing up in one place and you miss out on a lot." Luna yawned as she stood up, stretching her arms. "Anyone know where the bathroom is around here?"

"Down the hall, second door on the right." Blake replied.

"Thanks, be back in a bit."

"Let us know if you need help changing!" Yang teased.

"Har har, very funny." Luna chuckled quietly, being careful as she stepped around the many students before her.

"Phew." Luna sighed as she finally shut the bathroom door, locking it in place as she slid against it.

To say it's been a tiring day would be an understatement. In less than twelve hours, she's been flown across the sky, entered an academy filled with students, made enemies with said students and staff alike, and finally reunited with her sister she hasn't seen for ages. It's been quite the day.

At least she was behind enemy lines. Oh wait, that was bad. She was behind enemy lines. From here on out, the only one who literally had her back was Wolfie. She could depend on Blake to help her out through most of her troubles, but asking her to help in her mission wasn't possible. Even on the off chance she actually did agree to help her, she wouldn't want to involve one of her best friends in something so big. The last she wanted was to make life any harder for her friend like it was going to be for her.

With the coast clear, and feeling sure no one was spying on her from the bathroom of all things, she quickly dug through her pajama's pants pocket, sitting on the lid of the toilet seat as she called the most calming person she could think of.

ring-ring*

ring-ring*

"Hello?"

"Hey mom!"

"Luna!" Cinder gasped with joy. "Oh thank goodness you called! Is everything ok? Are you hurt? Do you need help? Did a boy touch you!? I swear to god if any boy touch you, I'm gonna rip off his-!"

"MOM!" Luna yelped. "It's ok, I'm fine. I'm just checking in now."

"Huff, sorry sweetie. It's just... You've never been on your own before like this."

"I know mom, but really, I'll be okay. It's only been three days."

"I know but... ugh, you know I'm just worried about you."

Her worry wasn't misplaced. Throughout all the time she's been with Luna, not once had Luna been by herself for over two days. Whether it's with someone else, or living in Salem's domain for the last two years, she's always been with someone she could trust. Now, she was somewhere she couldn't afford to trust anyone, somewhere she wouldn't be able to get to if help was needed for at least several days.

"I know mom, but I'm fine. I'm just letting you know things are going fine." Luna assured. "Oh, by the way! Blake's here too!"

"Blake?"

"Yeah, Blake! You know, the Faunus? Daughter of the White Fang people?"

"Oh, Blake!" Cinder realized. "I didn't expect her to show up there of all place."

"You're telling me. I was so excited to see her!"

"Sweetie, you remember the proses"

"I know, it's fine mom. I don't plan on telling her anything unless I'm sure."

"Well, just keep your focus on the mission, ok? I'm glad that you have friends there but don't let them get in the way of things, alright?"

"It's alright, I know. Tomorrow we're supposed to take some sort of field test or something, I don't know the full details, Ozpin and Glynda weren't really specific."

"Ozpin... How are you with him, Luna?" Cinder asked worriedly remembering Luna's frequent panic attacks.

"Depends on what you mean. He makes me feel a little nervous but that's about it, I don't know. As for Glynda, well... I'm not sure she plans on making things easy for me."

"Are you sure you'll be fine then, Luna? Just say the word, and we might be able to pull you out in a few days at most."

"Thanks, but no thanks. I'll be fine mom, I promise."

knock*

knock*

knock*

Luna nearly dropped her scroll as she jumped from surprise at the door knocking. "I'll be out in one minute!" She called over. "Mom, sorry but I got to go. I'll call you later."

"Well alright... be sure to keep me up to date every week, ok?"

"I will. I gotta go now. Love you."

"Love you too, sweetie."

click*

With another sigh, Luna closed her scroll as she walked over to the door. Tomorrow would determine the first of many things for Luna's new life, and possibly determine how much easier or harder the rest of her journey was going to be from this point forward.

knock*

knock*

"I'm coming, just hang on!" Luna yelled irritatedly as she opened the door. "Seriously, keep your pants on-" She was cut off by the just-as-surprised face of the person behind the door. Weiss Schnee. "Oh! Hey Weiss!"

"Oh god, it's you again!"


	10. Chapter 10

"Are you sure you didn't provoke them?" Blake wondered as Luna got prepared from her locker.

"No, of course not!" She whined. "I'm telling you some orange haired just punched me out of nowhere in the lunchroom, they didn't even care enough to notice! It took forever to get the syrup out of my clothes..."

She had to change her clothes since now dubbing a black t-shirt with a red flame on the chest, a open black leather jacket sleeves stopping at the elbows showing off her friendship pendant and plan black track suit bottoms with black foot wraps (this is her fighting outfit)

"Well it didn't seem to ruin your mood, all things considered." Blake commented.

That was the one fact Luna couldn't deny, smiling a little to herself as she prepared. Today was going to be the biggest of all days, one of the most decisive factors of her teenage life! Today she would take the initiation test alongside many other first years of the academy, one that would ultimately decide what team she was going to be put together with, and who was going to be the leader of said team!

She really didn't care for the details. But she didn't want to be leader of it all to much responsibility she wouldn't find being simple grunt of the team, she would always be happy as long as she got to be on a team with Blake. Just picturing it, the four years together after being gone for so long, or at least until Luna got all the information she required, alongside her best friend who wouldn't know about Luna's true purpose within these walls.

And she was completely fine with that! Even if she told Blake her true reasoning behind all this for being here, and even if she was completely fine with it and even wanted to help, she just couldn't bring herself to reveal it. It was to much of a gamble. On top of that, the secrecy would be easier to keep if Luna remained the only student around here who knew about her ultimate goal.

All she needed to do for now was keep a low profile, doing whatever it took to keep herself from looking suspicious and the staff around here off her back. She already had Glynda on her hide like there was no tomorrow. Add one more teacher, or worse of all Ozpin himself, on top of that and there was no way she was going to even make it through a single year at this academy.

With a smile, Luna replied, "Yup, finally some combat you can't get yelled at for ." She said as she took out her beloved katana and pistol. "Today I get to let my sweethearts tear inta somethin."

"Well, just remember you won't be the only one going through initiation." Blake reminded walking over. "You're going to be meeting a lot of new people here, some you may not even like, like Cardin."

"No yuck not even," the thought of it gave Luna the shivers, "don't even say that name around me till after initiation. The last nightmare I want to even think of is me ending up on his team."

"Not like that," Blake smiled, 'I mean you'll have to learn to get along with new people and work together. You never really were an 'out there' kind of girl growing up you know."

"Ugh, you sound just like my mom. And it wasn't my fault anyway. I just never really got out that much."

One of the sad realities of Luna's young life. Without going outside, at least that often, she never got to meet new people. Without meeting new people she never got to experience the different types of people there were. There were some good people, bad people, ok people, and everything inbetween. Those were the only people she ever knew existed in the world, and because of her sheltered life, she never really understood what accounted for actual nice people and actual mean people. .

"I don't need people to help me grow up. I am plenty mature as it is. I've been told that hundreds of times in my life."

"Was it by your mother?" Blake asked knowingly.

"Yeah, why?" was all she got for a first response was a silent moan from her friend.

"But what about when we form teams?" That was the question to finally get to Luna's nerves.

"Uhm... I-I don't know..." she mumbled, "I-I'll just be on your team or something..."

"M-Maybe you should try to be on someone else's team...?" Blake wondered, regretting it immediately as Luna rushed up to her sad-eyed tucked ears.

"Wah? You don't want me on your team...?"

"What- No no, it's not like that." She said trying to ease her sadness. "I'm just saying you shouldn't be ready for anything that comes up around here. No one knows exactly how the placements go, so even if we both decide we wanna be teammates, that might not even happen."

"Yeah, I know..." Luna moaned.

"Besides, even if it don't end up on the same team, it might be good for you." On a whole, Blake was actually being series for herself. Luna's never had much experience with others, so who knows how well any interactions with other people might go. "It might help you break out of your shell a little if you get to see what other people are like".

"Break out of my shell?" Luna repeated completely baffled. "I don't need help breaking out of my shell, that's just-"

"Ridiculous!" A teenage blond boy said, taking the words right out of her mouth. He wasn't really paying too much attention of their conversation though, just the piece of paper in his hands.

"There's no way I put my gear in locker 635 yesterday!? I would've remembered counting that high! Ugh, why does that have to happen today!?" He continued to groan on as he passed several other students socializing with one another.

"So Pyrrha, have you given any thought on who's team you would like to be on?" Weiss asked curiously. "I'm sure everyone must be eager to unite with such a strong, well known individual, like yourself."

"Hmm... I'm not quite sure." She replied. "I was just planning on letting the chips fall where they may."

"Well, I was just thinking maybe we could be on a team together." Weiss proposed.

"Well, I was just thinking maybe we could be on a team together." Weiss proposed.

"Well that sounds grand!" The words brought nothing but pure joy to Weiss.

"Great!" Within the inner subconsciousness of her dark mind, a cloud of utter evil was forming as she continued to think to herself. "This will be perfect! The smartest girl in class combined with the strongest girl in class. Together we will be unstoppable! I can see it now: We'll be popular, we'll be celebrities, we'll get perfect grades! Nothing can come between us now!"

"You know what else is great?" The blonde from thirty seconds ago asked, throwing himself between them as he gazed at the heiress. "Me, Jaune Arc. Nice to meet you."

Ate this Luna was distracted from her conversation with Blake "oh this'll be interesting"

"You again?" Weiss was annoyed within the first half-second of seeing him, having a brief encounter with him earlier after the auditorium assembly yesterday.

"Nice to meet you, Jaune!" Pyrrha greeted, ready to shake her hand.

"Yeah yeah." He muttered, pushing her aside. "So, Weiss! Couldn't help but overhear your fondness of me the other day." He flexed with pride, unaware of the facepalming from the same girl behind him.

"Oh, you've got to be kidding me."

"Don't worry, no need to be embarrassed. So, been hearing rumors about teams! I was thinking you and me would make a good one. What do you say?"

"Actually," Pyrrha spoke up, "I think the teams are comprised of 4 students each, so-"

"You don't say." He muttered before leaning over. "Well hot-stuff, play your cards right and maybe you could join up with the winning team."

"Jaune, is it?" Weiss quickly butted in, separating them. "Do you have any idea who you are talking to?"

"Not in the slightest, Snow Angel." He said with pride.

"This is Pyrrha." She stated, gesturing to the aforementioned person.

"Hello again." She waved.

"Pyrrha graduated top of her class at Sanctum."

"Never heard of it." Jaune said with a simple shrug.

"Ah!" She couldn't believe what she was hearing! "She's won the Mistral Regional Tournament 4 years in a row... A new record!

"The what?"

"... She's on the front of every Pumpkin Pete's Marshmallow Flakes box!" She huffed flailing her arms angrily.

"OHMIGOOOOOSH!" A voice cried out. Before Weiss even had time to respond, she was crashed into, sending said girl hurtling into the lockers, as she was replaced with a giant tiger eared girl.

"YOU'RE PUMPKIN PETE'S MARSHMALLOW GIRL MASCOT?!" The girl screamed with stars in her eyes. The same level of excitement, at least by half of it's amount, was shared by the other fellow blonde boy.

"That's you? They only do that for star athletes and cartoon characters!" Jaune mentioned.

"Who cares about that!" Luna squealed rummaging through her pockets. "Pumpkin Pete's is my all time favorite cereal! Can I have your autograph!?" She asked hopefully, handing her a small a small pocket-sized notebook and a pen.

"Eh heh, sure..." Pyrrha nodded with a small blush, signing the girl's notebook. "But you do know Pumpkin Pete's cereal isn't really that good for you right?"

"What are you kidding me!? It's the best tasting cereal in the world!" At least to Luna it was. The stars in her eyes only doubled as Pyrrha returned the signed autograph book with her signature on it.

"Luna!" Blake groaned, pulling the back of Luna jacket and snapping the girl out of her state of wonder with a small yank of her tail.

"Ack-!" She squeaked.

"I'm sorry about that," Blake apologized to Pyrrha, "she gets a little... excited, pretty easily."

"Just a little?!" Weiss grumbled marching back to the group, hair in a mess and her clothes scuffed up.

Luna could only look at her in total confusion. "Jeez Weiss, you look a mess?"

Every fiber of her being wanted to do nothing more than to strangle Luna with her own tail at that very moment. Unfortunately, the only thing keeping her from doing so, at least that were important to her, was the sight of Pyrrha before them all. It would be one thing if it was just the rest of the group for sure, but she needed to do everything in her power to maintain a composed and professional status around the red-haired girl.

One misstep could see her ignoring Weiss. One scene of her breaking out in a fight would keep her from wanting to socialize with Weiss. Any and all actions that could put her elite status on the brink of ruin, and she wouldn't even want to consider ending up on Weiss' team of all things! So no matter how badly she wanted to, she had to maintain composure.

"Ghhhhh!" She gritted her teeth tightly to avoid any shouting. "Yes I suppose I do." Not wanting to explode on the spot, she switched her attention back to the previous headache before her. "Anyway, so after hearing all of this, do you really think you're in a position to ask her to be on your team?"

"Wait, we can ask to be on someone's team?" Luna gasped as her eyes widened. "Oh pleeeeease, Pyrrha! Please be on my team!" She begged. There could be nothing better than having someone from Pumpkin Pete's cereal being on her team, save for her closest friend Blake.

"Wha- No you can't choose the team!" Weiss nearly snapped.

"Ugh, it probably wouldn't matter anyway." Jaune sighed depressingly. "I don't think I have any right to ask that anyway."

"Actually Jaune, I think you'd make a great leader." Pyrrha comforted, patting his shoulder.

"D'oh, stop it!" Being praised by one of the greatest mascots in the world was like an angel singing to him, being washed away in a stream of joy.

"Hell yeah!" Luna jumped in again, still unable to get over the fact one of the faces of her favorite cereal were in her presence. "It would be great! You, me, Jaune, and Blake," she paused pulling her friend in, "we'd be a great team!"

"Luna..." Blake mumbled.

"Excuse me!?" That was the last straw for the fellow Schnee. "What makes you think you have any right to ask Pyrrha on your team of all things?"

"Because I asked her nicely." Luna replied casually, not seeing the big picture here.

"Kindness withholding, you can't just ask someone like Pyrrha to join your team!" Why was it this one stupid faunes couldn't get that?! If Luna was ever on a team like Pyyrha's, it would not only devastate Weiss, but the natural laws of the universe would practically implode on itself! "Your kind of behavior isn't something a team like Pyrrha's should have!"

"Oh don't worry Weiss," Jaune swooned with a minor flex, "you'll be welcomed on our team too, with open arms I might add."

"Teams can only comprise of 4 members though." Blake tried to point out to no avail. Everyone was either focused on Pyrrha joining their team, or convincing one of the others to join with them.

"Sounds like Pyrrha's on board for team Jaune. Spots are filling up quick. Now, I'm not supposed to do this, but maybe I could pull some strings. Find a place for you? What do you say?"

"Wait... Pull some strings?" Luna raised a brow at this, dropping all excitement previously held. "What kind of strings can you pull? Like around the academy?"

This could've been a great ace in the hole. If she could convince Jaune to use his string-pulling powers, it could help her further her goals of gathering private information, and hasten her attempts to do so! He could get her unrestricted access to data rooms, possibly help her get out of some homework they might need in the future, the possibilities were endless!

Better yet, if he could pull strings when it came to the teachers around here or maybe even Ozpin himself, she could make it so there was no way they could possibly bother her! With that, there was no way anyone would hinder her mission, making everything easier and manageable within a month's time at most! This was just a too good of an opportunity to waste!

"U-Uhhh well.." Jaune scratched his chin nervously. Despite her takings with Luna, Weiss found this too good of a chance to remain silent. The sooner she got Jaune off her back, the easier it would be to convince Pyrrha to join her team after she got rid of Luna.

"Yeah, Juaaaane," Weiss grinned, "what kind of strings can a big macho man like yourself pull?" All she needed was to get him to either fess up, or take off running, whichever came first.

"W-Well umm... I could uhhh..."

ding-dong*

Everyone was silenced by the ring of the announcement bell. Before them one of the large TV monitors on the sides started speaking, even with the imagery remaining black.

"Would all first year students please report to Beacon Cliff for initiation?" Glynda could be heard announcing. "Again, all first year students report to Beacon Cliff immediately."

"Oh, saved by the bell." Jaune was relieved. Weiss just rolled her eyes before leaving the group behind. A Schnee would never allow themselves to be late for the first day of school, or pre-first day of school in this case.

"Oh! We have to go! Come on Blake, quit goofing around! We haveta go!" She yelled worriedly, dashing through the halls with her friend in hand behind her.

Yup, this was exactly the same little Luna Blake knew growing up with. Easily distracted, easily excitable, and easy to assume someone else was responsible for any trouble she unknowingly caused herself. No matter how many years had passed, she was exactly the same little girl she played with long ago.

...Perhaps a little too like her.

"It was nice meeting you, Jaune." Pyrrha waved as she walked along the halls.

With a deep breath to himself, Jaune cleared his thoughts as he head through the halls.

Today was going to be the most important day in the history of the world for the students! They needed to be vigilant, positive, tough, and intimidating! In a school like this, it was eat or be eaten, in more meanings of the word if the Grimm ever became involved! All they could rely on was their quick wits and tenacity to see them through the end of the year alive, and whatever team they ended up with by the time it was all over!

Now if only he remembered which way to the cliffs, he'd be on a roll.

The sun was brightly overhead in the middle of the day, all of the students being lined up side by side before the headmaster and Glynda. Before them was an endless expanse of forest and mountains. Trees as far as the eyes could see, clear blue skies in the whether above them, and barely a cloud in sight. It was the perfect conditions for weather for any outdoor activity, pivotal for a day like this.

This is the day all of them, Ruby especially, had been training for. For a chance to reach Beacon academy, become the Hunters and Huntresses they loved to hear about, and the heroes the world needed right now. It was going to be the most important day of their single lives, and one that would ultimately change the course of history forever.

Whoever everyone ended up with after today was going to be more than just a team. They would become friends, family, allies against the nefarious forces of the world both Grimm and otherwise alike. They would have to trust them from this day forward, no matter who ended up where. And all of that started after today, where one little field test would determine their very lives!

"For years, you have trained to become warriors." Ozpin said, looking amongst the dozens of students. Like always, at least when Ruby first met him, he was calm and composed with either a warm cup of coffee or tea in his hand. "And today, your abilities will be evaluated in the Emerald Forest."

From order of left to right, the students were lined up as followed: Jaune, Cardin, Ren, Yang, Nora, Ruby, Luna, Blake, Pyrrha, Weiss, Shadow 1, Shadow 2, Russel, and a few more Shadow people.

Many fine young students, each with their own unique weapons, own unique semblances, and a world of endless possibilities before them.

"Now," Glynda spoke stepping to his side, "I'm sure many of you have heard rumors about the assignment of teams. Well, allow us to put an end to your confusion. Each of you will be given teammates... Today."

"What? Aww..." Ruby and Luna moaned.

"Relax Luna, there's still a good chance we might end up on a team." Blake whispered.

"These teammates will be with you for the rest of your time here at Beacon." Ozpin stated. "So it is in your best interest to be paired with someone with whom you can work well."

"Ah..." Ruby moaned again. As long as Yang was on her team, that was fine. Even if she ended up on the same team as that horrible Cardin, she could tolerate it as long as she had friends that were near.

Weiss grinned to herself, eyes shifting over to Pyrrha. With those two on the same team, she was confident there would be no opposing force that could stop them! Just as long as Ruby remained out of the picture, there's no telling what having her on their team could do, nor the utter chaos she could cause.

"That being said, the first person you make eye contact with after landing will be your partner for the next four years." Ozpin concluded.

"See? I told you!" Nora grinned, looking over to Ren.

"After you've partnered up," Ozpin continued, "make your way to the northern end of the forest. You will meet opposition along the way. Do not hesitate to destroy everything in your path, or you will die." He looked along as one student in particular raised his hand at this. "Yes, Luna?"

"W-When you say opposition, do you mean other people like bandits or...?" She didn't really know what would've been worse. Bandits she would have to destroy, aka kill, or the one other force this world was constantly threatened by.

"The Grimm." He clarified.

Not too surprisingly, over half of the students before him glanced at one another with unease. He himself was confident in their fighting abilities, but their worries was understandable. Not many of them had ever fought Grimm to such a large extent, and now they were about to jump head first into a den of nothing but monsters. Not even the staff would think about exploring the woods on their own, at least not for long.

The reactions of course did vary among the individuals. Jaune gulped nervously, Luna and Blake looked back at each other with mild confidence, Yang punched her fists in excitement, Weiss nodded with certainty, Pyrrha stood at the ready, and Nora simply smiled over at Ren. The reactions varied, but the goal among them were clear.

Complete the objective, or die trying.

"You will be monitored and graded for the duration of your initiation." He added. "But our instructors will not intervene."

Luna couldn't tell if that was a good thing or a bad thing. On the one hand, that meant she didn't have to worry about staff interference during the initiation, unable to tell if Glynda would've left her to her own devices if otherwise. On the other hand, that made it even more questionable if she would be able to use Corrán or not. It's not like they could possibly monitor each of them at the exact same time, right? She just had to hope, whatever the situation called for, that she could use Wolfie without worry.

"You will find an abandoned temple at the end of the path containing several relics. Each pair must choose one, and return to the top of the cliff. We will regard that item, as well as your standing, and grade them appropriately. Are there any more questions?"

"Yeah, um, sir-" Jaune tried to speak, raising his hand.

"Good." Ozpin replied, ignoring it completely. "Now, take your positions."

None of them hesitated. One by one, each of them had their weapons at the ready.

This, was their moment.

Except for Jaune who continued to raise his hand.

"Uh, sir? I've got, um, a question." He tried again.

Creak*

With the large creaking sound, the first student was flung before them. From the ground they stood atop, they were thrown into the air at immense speed and trajectory, gliding along it as they made their way into the forest.

Creak*

Luna briefly watched as Weiss was one of the first recognizable people thrown across.

"So, this landing strategy-"

Creak*

There went Pyrrha.

"-thing, uh, w-what is it?"

Shooting a quick smile to the younger student, Blake gave Luna a warming smile before she was thrown next.

She wasn't too worried about the forest itself, that was for suckers. But much like getting on the ride to a roller coaster you know stretches up to the skies above, she couldn't help it as her heart raced, each second becoming more and more unbearable until it finally happened.

"You're, like, dropping us off or something?"

CREAK*

And with that Luna was thrown into the air, with nothing except an endless forest of Grimm before her.

"No." Ozpin replied calmly. "You will be falling."

Creak*

"Whoohooooo!" Nora cheered as she flew.

"Oh, I see. So, like, did you hand out parachutes for us?" Jaune wondered.

Creak*

Yang only grinned at the excitement as she flew. First stop free-falling air, next stop a forest full of Grimm. This was going to be awesome!

"No, you will be using your own landing strategy." He informed.

Creak*

Ren never lost an ounce of his composure as he took off, remaining steady and focused as when he woke up this morning.

"Uhhuh... Yeah..." Jaune mumbled looking around.

Creak*

Cardin didn't even care about everything before him. By the end of this day, he was going to be Number One!

"So, um, what exactly is a landing strateGYYYYYY!" He screamed as he was thrown. Must've been a real shame too, since there was no telling now if he was actually going to answer that question or not.

And with that, Ozpin just watched. Sipping his drink looking behind him, he watched his beloved new students as they flew across the air like birds learning to fly. Except for wings though, they were all on their own for that.

"Are you sure it's wise to send Luna out there with the rest?" Glynda asked slightly worried. "We still don't know how dangerous she's going to be through the rest of this year. This initiation alone might prove dangerous for the other students, you know with all the fire she's constantly spewing."

"Then I believe this is the perfect time to understand how much of a threat she is." Ozpin replied. "We only know so much about her right now. She seems peaceful to the other students, she doesn't seem frightening to anyone in particular, and I believe you said she *started* a fight yesterday?"

"I don't know who actually started the fight," Glynda admitted, "but she was there when I found her. Just like she was on the day of the robbery."

"And did either of the girls say anything about her causing the trouble?"

"Ugh, no." She groaned. She wasn't trying to look like she was a pure enemy of Luna, but with the fate of the world at stake she couldn't afford to take any chances whatsoever.

"Then it seems that whoever found our little monster raised her well." It was terrifying how calm he was in comparison to her.

"But Professor Oz-"

"I know, Glynda, I know. We can't be too cautious with anything that girl does. Keep her under constant surveillance for the initiation for the time being, but do not interfere with anything."

"And what if she starts attacking any of the students?"

"If she attacks any of the students, then we have the evidence we need to restrain her. As for the students themselves, I'm positive she won't be able to hurt them too badly. It would be her against all of them after all."

"And if she doesn't do anything just for now?"

"Then we just watch as the caring teachers we are. They're still children, Glynda, but we must leave it up to them to determine how to handle the future. If we push one way, they'll push towards another. We have to trust in their judgement, for now."

"Huff, you're too lenient and calm about this."

Maybe she was right, maybe she was wrong. None of it mattered to Ozpin. All he was concerned about was seeing how much, Luna had grown since that day.

This was going to be the day that they carved their own paths, the day they showed the rest of the world who they truly were, and what they were going to become.

This, was the first day of School.

crash*

"Ack-! Stupid birdy!" Luna growled, burning the bird plastered to her face as she fell.

She was actually surprised how long they'd been flying for. What she assumed to be a simple matter of seconds ended up being minutes, flying hundreds of miles over the forest itself within such a brief time span. Maybe if she ever did become a bird, she wouldn't mind watching the view from all the way up here.

Or maybe she would just talk to her native birds in their native bird tongue to tell them to get OUT OF THE WAY!

"Ugh! Final- ah crap..." She moaned. Step one was removing the hazardous bird from her face so she could finally see again. Step two was supposed to be planning her exit strategy in order to safely fall along the forest with her. At least, that was the plan before she saw how close she was to the ground already.

Luckily for her she was far enough from the ground that she could still use her landing strategy those blasted birds haven't bested her yet, as she focused energy through her hands and feet she began shooting fire from both as she began to slow her decent.

As she was much closer to the ground she cut the fire landing with a slight thud, looking around listening to hear if anybody was out there, she saw what looked like Yang flying overhead but other then that nobody was dangerously close as far as she could tell, "now to deal with cameras" Luna thought to herself sending electricity around herself finding all the hidden cameras she sends enough volts to fry the camera's.

Once they were dealt with Luna looked toward her shadow "Alright Corrán you can come out now, I know you want to"

As she finished a tiger like girl crawled out of Luna's shadow and as it jumped up on her putting its front paws on her chest as it rubbed its head under her chin

As Luna began petting her "Yeah, I missed you too sorry you had to be cooped up in my shadow for so long but you know I couldn't have anyone seein ya"

As the tiger got down nodding slowly it stooped then tilted its head as if to ask "so what's up"

"I gotta ask, we got any buddy's in the area"

The tiger began looking around sniffing the air before looking at Luna again shaking its head

"Damn all hostile, well that's a bummer hehe sorry to ask this but could get back in the shadow don't want Ozpin seeing you"

The tiger noodled as it walked back to Luna shadow and with that Luna dropped the electric field letting the cameras reboot.

All the will back with Glynda and Ozpin

"Professer Ozpin, the camera feed on Luna suddenly cut, what would you use do

All Ozpin did was stand there smiling "clever girl"

"Proffeser why are you smiling"

Back with Luna as she was walking along the forest she could swear she caught the whiff of smoke and where there smoke there's fire, A giddy Luna zipped away toward the scent finding it was indeed fire a burning tree to be exact she began eating the fire before noticing a tree a little bit away being suddenly cut down followed by a familiar sounding moan

"Duahhh"

In a burst of lightning Luna ran in the direction she heard the yell to find the fallen tree and in the distance she noticed a familiar red cloaked girl sitting on the ground looking at the pacing heiress

"No it's this way, wait maybe it's that way, no defiantly this way"

"Well it's official we're lost" Ruby stated lying on her back

"We are not lost, I know exactly where we're going"

Luna walked up to the bickering par "Alright then we're are the ruins princess"

"Eep" went Weiss quickly turning around hand on the handle of her weapon, before she realised who it was as she began to relax "oh it's just you, what do you want"

"Just lookin to lend a helping hand to my fellow students"

"Really?" Ruby asked tilting her head

"Meh why not"

"Alright help if you can" Weiss said looking at Luna suspiciously

Luna smirked as she croached down and jumped up into the air twice as high as the trees getting a look at the surrounding area, she see's mostly trees but a little bit away she see's a clearing where she assumes the ruins might be located.

Landing back on the ground creating two feet sized craters she looked toward the two girls pointing in the direction she saw the clearing

"I saw a clearing up in that direction I'd say that would be our safest bet as to were the ruins might be"

Luna began walking off not caring if the two followed or not.

"Hey wait up Luna" came a running Ruby with a grumpy Weiss in tow

As the three walked through the trees the clearing in sight and cocky smirk spread onto Luna's face as she looked back at Weiss

"Well aren't you glad I helped know ice queen"

"What did you just call me?"

"Ice queen cause you know your as cold as ice"

"How dare you you dir…"

"Luna!!!" yelled Blake from the ruins

"Blake!!!" yelled Luna as she ran over too Blake stopping just in front of her

"So did you find a team mate yet" asked Blake looking at the girls behind Luna

"No I haven't found one yet no one landed near me so yeah" looking behind Blake seeing a Yang looking at what Luna assumed to be relics "I assume you partnered up with Yang"

"Yeah but don't worry there's still a chance we could end up on the same team"

"Yeah I know" Luna said looking down a little disheartened

She was quickly shaken from those thoughts as she saw a Ursa coming out of the trees a pink explosion coming from its back along with an orange haired girl holding a war hammer

"Awww Ren, it's Brocken"

The assumed Ren came running up from behind the now dead Ursa panting

"Nora never do that again"

When Ren went too look at where Nora was he wasent at all surprised to see she was no longer there, no instead she was looking at the relics singing to herself

"I'm queen of the castle, I'm queen of the castle"

"NORA!!!" yelled a slightly irritated Ren

"Coming Ren"

"Did she just ride her on that" asked a very confused Yang

"I believe she did" answered Luna as she walked up and took a relic

"Screeeee" " ahhhhhh" came a loud screech and scream from the forest a flying over the group was non other than Jaune Arc screaming bloody murder following him crashing into a tree was Pyrrha running away from a giant god damn Deathstalker.

"Caaawww" was heard from above as the group looked up they say what looked like a average sized nethermore so a giant god damn bird with razor sharp everything.

As Pyrrha made her way to the group thanks to the deathstalker stopping, Luna looked to the group seeing they all took relics

"Alright guys we don't have to fight these guys let's just go"

Yang nodded in agreement "yeah let's get going"

Luna didn't like what she heard next "don't worry guys I got this" Luna saw as Ruby burst of in a burst of rose petals right toward the deathstalker.

Taking a swing with her scythe just for into deflected by the deathstalkers pincer fear crept into Ruby's face

"Ruby get back here!!" screamed a very worried Yang

As Ruby tried to make her way back to the group the nethermore began shooting its razor sharp quills down, Ruby did a good job at dodging most but sadly one caught on her cape sticking her in place, and as the deathstalker made its way forward there was a burst of lightning, with a solid kick Luna deflected the stinger quickly landing just in time to catch the pincers.

"MOVE NOW!!!!" yelled Luna as Yang unstuck Ruby and ran back with the group who were left Aww struck at Luna raw physical strength being able to hold a deathstalker back is quit the feet.

Luna turned back to the deathstalker sucking in the air "FIRE DRAGONS ROAR" as an inferno of fire burst from the Luna mouth scorching its face aswell as burning some of its eyes blasting it back Luna turned back to the group running.

"Let's get going people we still got incoming nethermore"

The group ran side by side, only taking brief glimpses behind them to see the oncoming Grimm that pursued. Every now and then the farther students did what they could to slow the creature down, Blake and Luna shooting back at it with there weapons with Nora blasting the ground near it with her grenade launcher, causing it to stumble long enough to distance themselves by another yard every now and then.

It only took up to three whole minutes of running before the group finally came upon a cliffside. It's amazing what one could do when their life was being threatened by a giant insectoid trying to devour them all, alongside a giant bird flying around the air.

The cliffside itself was nothing short of amazing in all honesty, the surrounding ledge of the cliff riddled with pillars and stone monuments stretching throughout the entire clearing they came across. Many of them were dwindling to dust and debris, several of them toppled over and ruined through the passage of time. And that wasn't even the most impressive architecture left behind through the ages.

What really took the scenery before them were the giant bridges and building standing up from the center itself. The strange monument rose from the very depths of the cliff's chasm, the base of it being lost within the surrounding fog alongside the bridges and pillars. The force of time was no match for any of the standing structures, the grand steeple that rose from the chasm standing testament against nature's very own might. It was the method intended for the students to traverse upon their return to the cliff side.

Now, it was going to be their battleground.

"Come on, pass the bridge!" Jaune yelled, being the farthest of the group. No one could resist looking back every other moment, seeing the approaching Death Stalker only seconds behind them.

Caaaaaaouuuuuuuuuuuuuu!*

The piercing cry of the Nevermore echoed throughout the valley, soaring through the skies until it perched atop the very steeple they were planning to run to, forcing them to hide themselves behind the surrounding pillars out of the Grimm's sight.

"Now what?" Yang called over to the pillar several yards to her left where Pyrrha and Nora were.

"Let's just give it a good whackin', that'll send it running!" Nora suggested, excited at the thought of fighting the giant bird thing.

"I can kill it!" Luna called back, being at the pillar ahead of them, next to Weiss and Ren.

"Yeah, I'm sure we all can, Luna! We need a more solid plan!" Yang retorted.

"No, I mean really! I can kill it! In one hit, all I need you to do is set me up!" She paused looking down the forest as the Death Stalker approached, only a minute away. "the Death Stalker is another problem! Idamaged it some what so it should be easy!"

"You want us to WHAT?!" Jaune yelped in disbelief. Oh sure, that made sense; give Luna an opening to hit the Nevermore and deal with the Death Stalker afterwards.

"Trust me! Unless you have a better plan, I'm all ears!" The options weren't that hard to choose from. Either let someone who claimed they could handle it do it, or be the guy to decide what everyone did immediately after within the next minute before the Death Stalker showed up.

It wasn't that hard to decide.

"Alright but who deals with who?"

This was where Ruby cut in "Luna, Blake, Yang, Weiss your with me, Jaune you take everyone else ready break"

With everyone making a split second agreement they split up to deal with the respective Grimm as the Nevermore notices the 5 students getting ready for combat letting out a mighty caw it spread its wings and tried to take flight, Ruby starts to take command

""Weiss freeze it" doing as instructed Weiss froze the tail feathers of the Nethermore stopping it from moving, "Yang open fire" as Yang and Ruby shoot at the wings stopping the Nethermore from flying at full strength, "Blake make a slingshot" Blake shot her gun sword into a piller jumping onto an adjacent piller, Yang stops firing making sure the gun sword in firmly in place, "Luna get ready"

As fire and lightning surrounded Luna's form creating a permanent aura of energy around her as she steps into the slingshot, "Weiss pull the slingshot" summoning her glyphs pulling the the sling shot back, Ruby begins aiming it with her rifle "ALRIGHT FIRE!!!" Ruby yelled at the top of her lungs

Weiss realised the glyph launching Luna directly at the stuck Nethermore and as Luna began spinning she yelled "FIRE LIGHTNING DRAGONS DRILL IMPACT" spinning faster and faster she made impact with the Nethermore drilling straight into it it only took a second fore Luna to tear through the Nethermore.

As the Nethermore fell Ruby and friends were left wondering where did Luna go, looking up when the dust cleared the got to see what looked like a pair of flailing legs stick out of a freshly made dent in the cliff.

The four girl look of to Jaune and everyone to her Jaune yell Pyrrha's name and Pyrrha throwing her shield at the deathstalkers stinger cutting it off and as it stabbed the Grimm's head killing it.

The next 20 minutes was spent trying to pry Luna out of the cliff.

Back with Ozpin and Glynda

"You keep having faith in her but you never tell me why!" Glynda argued. "Give me one good reason right now to assume she isn't a threat?"

"Because she doesn't want anyone else to know about her true motives." He said showing her the after footage. It was a simple scene of Luna exploring the forest for several seconds worth of it. That all came to an end though when her ears perked and she noticed a tree falling in the distance, there wasn't any footage of Luna using the tiger-like Grimm except Luna was just asking it questions (there were cameras outside her electric field). "If she had intended to harm any of the students, she would've done so the second there guard was down. Not to mention the bullies she was confronting yesterday."

"That doesn't excuse her reason for being here." She pointed out.

"True, but it should at least give some peace of mind on her attentions. She's only here for information as far as we're aware of, which means she shouldn't pose a problem for the other students of the academy."

"And if you're wrong?" She waited for a response, watching as the sun's light reflected off his glasses as he adjusted them.

"Then I'll deal with her myself but only if it comes to it."

"Eh heh... I guess I kinda overdid it with the whole 'fire thing', huh?"

"Ya think?"

"Russel Thrush. Cardin Winchester. Dove Bronzewing. Sky Lark." Ozpin spoke out.

After the several minutes it took to find an alternative route to the cliff side, the students, all initiates included, had finally returned to the Academy for a momentous celebration. Before them was the academy, the students, Ozpin himself, everybody that would be there to commemorate their glorious occasion that would incite them to their future teams.

Above the headmaster himself were two monitors, each displaying a facial image of the students he read out as the team was formed. Like stated earlier, it was here that the students would forever find themselves stationed in one of the following teams for the rest of their lives. Not one of the mentioned students had any issues with who their teammates were, all of them great friends with one another who welcomed the team forming with great enjoyment!

Sadly, none of the remaining nine could say the same. They didn't not like one another, far from it.

They were mostly worried about who was going to be on who's team from this point forward. For the next four years, they would spend most of their academy life with the following students, possibly being separated from the others for the indefinite future. They promised they would always be friends regardless, but they still held out hope for who their teammates were going to be.

"From this day forward, you will work together as... Team CRDL [Cardinal]. Lead by... Cardin Winchester."

The team bowed respectfully as a round of applause was elicited from the audience.

"Jaune Arc, Pyrrha Nikos. Nora Valkyrie, Lie Ren from this day forward you will work together as… Team JNPR [Juniper]. Lead by… Jaune Arc".

"Wait what?" asked a very confused Jaune

"Great job Jaune" said Pyrrha giving Jaune a small punch on the shoulder causing him to fall down and as the other students laughed Jaune got up and the team bowed respectfully as a round of applause was elicited from the audience.

Now came the moment of truth.

Ozpin looked to the other students "now as you can all see there is an odd number of students remaining normally one would be asked to leave but after myself and the rest off the staff have some talks we have come to a decision" he paused taking a sip from his coffee "that this day for the first time in a long time Beacon Academy will have a 5 person team.

As whispers spread through the auditorium they were hushed as Ozpin began naming the team

"Ruby Rose, Weiss Schnee, Yang Xiao Long, Blake Belladonna…" It was as if time slowed down as Luna hoped beyond hope her name was called, she prayed to whatever god might listen "and Luna Fall from this day forward you will work together as… Team RSYBL [Rosybloom]. Lead by… Ruby Rose.

"WHAT?!" It took all of Weiss' years of development skills to keep from shouting at that very moment. Now was the best time she found herself to stop saying it couldn't get any worse. Her only regret was not stopping a minute sooner.

"Ohhh yeah!" Ruby cheered, pumping her fist with excitement. She could finally cross off 'Having Yang on her Team' from his list! Even after the announcements, most of the students presented themselves respectfully before the headmaster.

"Your teams show promise, balance, and equality between each team member individually. But united, I believe you shall stand tall." Ozpin complimented.

As the students began to leave the auditorium conversing with there new teams.

"It looks like things are shaping up to be an... interesting year..." Ozpin commented as he observed his recent students.

"WHYYYYYYYYYYYYY!"

Definitely an interesting year.

With the initiation at a close, and the assembly finished for the evening, Ozpin found himself where he always preferred finding himself.

Walking down the peaceful halls of the academy, with a cup of fresh brew in hand and serenity filling the air, Glynda herself following alongside behind him as she looked over her data.

"Nothing to say about the ceremony, Ms. Goodwitch?" It was unlike her to remain given the events that happened. It was a nice change of pace all things considered, he was just wondering what sort of argument she was going to have with the turnabouts.

"I see no reason to question you at this point." Glynda replied. "After all, you always have some ulterior motive behind everything. And even if you didn't, you actually didn't do anything wrong that I can find this time. After all, Ruby did score five more points than Luna as she set up the little stunt with the Grimm."

"Hmhm, I think I preferred it when you argued against me. I always felt so smart when I rebuttal everything you said." He joked.

"Well, all things considered, I suppose I must resign myself with asking. Are you sure putting the girl in a bigger team was so wise? I don't think anyone would pay it second mind if you had just stuck her on a solo team giving her raw power." Unlike before, she didn't give him any chance of countering this. "Oh, don't worry Ms. Goodwitch, it's all part of my carefully calculated planning." She mocked in a teasing tone.

"Heh, took the words right out of my mouth."

"Well at least now I'm sure I know the reason this time. With so many people looking to her, she'll have too many prying eyes to keep her busy and away from searching for more restricted information ." She realized.

"Why don't you just take my job too if you're going to take all the fun out of it?" The delightful chuckle on her expression was all he needed to look back.

It's just as Goodwitch said, this would definitely keep Luna from having more free time during the next four years. Every little distraction was another distraction away from Beacons biggest secret, and gave him ample time to bring Luna out of a certain someone's hold. Besides, even if that wasn't the reason, he was still surprised with her recent development and skills. She was very rough for sure, definitely needing training in how to use her powers with more finesse. But that's what schools were for, to learn from one's mistake. And here he was after announcing that Luna would be part of the only 5 person team of Beacon

Now he just had to wait and see how long it would take for him to regret it...


	11. Chapter 11

After a long and arduous test, the students had finally come to the end of their perilous Initiation. For it, the students were required to journey through the Grimm-infested Emerald Forest, battling their way through the numerous Grimm as they searched for the missing temple within the woods to claim their relics, and return with them to the top of the cliff. In addition to determining the overall skill and quality of each individual student, it also determined who would be placed on who's team, and who would be the team leader of that team.

For Ruby, she had formed the team RSYBL [Rosybloom, consisting of Ruby, Weiss, Yang, Blake, and Luna and was lead by the team leader herself, Ruby Rose. In all honesty, it was the farthest thing she, or Weiss, had ever seen coming. Up to this point, Ruby had just been concerned with actually surviving the initiation and joining up with Yang as a team member, a wish she was happy to see come true. The last thing she did expect though was for herself to be named leader of the team, a result of her scoring the highest amount of points during the initiation after managing to lead a successful effort to take down a Nevermore in a single strike, thanks to the combined efforts of her team.

For Jaune, he found himself becoming the leader of his own team as well, forming the team JNPR [Juniper, which included himself, Nora, Pyrrha, and Ren. The team was a little less than expected, but let's just say the female members of the team weren't complaining. Out of all the people around him, he was praying that he would at least end up on the same team as Weiss. Not only did that not happen, not only did she end up on Ruby's team of all people, and not only did Ruby herself end up being the captain of the team instead of someone more refined like Weiss, he had the stupidly stressful job of being the leader of his own team! He wasn't a leader of all things, but for the next four years he would be the leader of Team JNPR so he should start acting like it.

As the teams were walking toward there dorm rooms they had begun conversing until they came to there dorms.

"Oh look at that we're neighbors, that's cool" said Luna looking over to Nora "but that doesn't mean you come over all the time got it"

"Okie dokie capin" said Nora giving a massive grin with a mock salute

"Come on Nora we get to head to bed" said Ren opening the door to the dorm

"Coming Ren"

"See you guys tomorrow" said Ruby copying Ren

As the teams separated into there own dorm rooms team Rosybloom noticed there was a slight problem they were only givin four beds.

"Hmmm this is going to be a problem"

"That is obvious moron"

"Well what are we gonna do we only got four beds and theres five of use" Yang stayed looking toward the rest of her team

Luna was the first to respond "well me and Blake could share a bed" Luna looked toward Blake "you know like we used to"

A small blush appeared on Blake's face "Well I mean that would solve the current problem until we fix it"

"So since were all a team now I think we should get to know each other, you know like weapons and semblance"

"You just wanted to get a closer look at their weapons, didn't you?" Yang asked with a knowing look.

"I neither confirm nor deny that statement." The younger girl replied with a completely straight face, but the twinkle in her eyes betrayed her.

"That may be so." Luna said with a chuckle." But a good leader always seeks to know those under his or her command. I think it's a rather reasonable measure."

Ruby beamed at the approval.

"Right! See, Yang, it's a perfectly reasonable measure. Look, I'll even go first."

She drew her weapon, the tip of the scythe slamming into the ground. Luna still wasn't quite used to the image of such a small girl wielding such a massive cutting tool.

"This here is my baby, Crescent Rose." Ruby said with a fondness usually reserved for mothers speaking about their children. "I designed her myself. She shifts between a scythe and a high-impact sniper riffle, and she has a large range, both in melee and ranged forms. She has very strong recoil, but I've trained to used that to my advantage by helping me move around more easily. And to make that even easier, my semblance is speed."

Yang stepped up and introduced Ember Celica, her dual ranged shot gauntlets and her semblance of damage conduction, Blake showed them her variant ballistic chain scythe Gambol Shroud and her semblance of clones, and Weiss the multi action dust rapier Myrtenaster and her semblance of glyphs.

Inevitably, four pairs of curious eyes turned to the Dragonslayer...

"Emm, well I didn't make my weapons they were givin to me by my mom and uncle" Luna drew her katana and handgun, Emm well the sword has a trigger that when pulled energizes the blade with dust, and the gun shoots explosive dust rounds. My semblance which I dubbed dragon slayer allows me to eat fire and lightning dust as well as use fire and lightning in all sorts of ways.

"That... sounds ridiculously overpowered."

The faunes shrugged. "Its kept me alive so far. I'm not complaining."

The heiress seemed to consider those words, then something else came to mind. "Is that how you were able to kill the nethermore in a single hit?"

"Aye. For the most powerful attack, I need to use up more power, but in most cases its like second nature."

The girls took some time to digest the information.

"Yep. Definitely overpowered." Yang gave her a look somewhere between impressed, approving and somewhat wearyness.

Ruby clapped her hands together "well that settles that, let's get to bed team"

(3 hours later)

As the team we're all in bed, some of them didn't seem to be getting much sleep as Yang was somehow even louder asleep then when she was awake.

Blake was squirming in the bed, Luna noticing her friend was still awake she began whispering "hey Blake, can't sleep"

"Yeah I'm confused on how Yang can snore so loud"

"I don't know, but hey I think there's some milk in the student kitchen I'm gonna go get some wanna join me"

"Sure thing"

The two get up to head to student kitchen, opening the fridge Luna finds the milk puts it into two mugs before heating them up with her powers.

"One mug of warm milk for her majesty"

A small giggle escapes Blake "I'm not Weiss you know"

"Haha nice one" Luna lets out a quiet laugh.

The two continue to converse until the topic of family came up

"So Luna awkward question but…. Are you still with your family?"

Luna was silent for a bit wondering should she tell her "ugh I was hoping this topic wouldn't come up"

"So that's a yes"

"Yes and no, yes I'm with them as in I still do jobs but for right now……" Luna stopped looking at her friend "can I trust you" there were no jokes no sarcasm Luna was dead serious

"Of course you can trust me, electric field please" Luna made the electric field disabling the camera and as she did so Blake revealed her tail "secret tail shake"

Luna and Blake did there shake and knowing she could trust her she explained "I'm here gathering information on Beacon, certain people my mom and uncle have talked to have given use some info that Ozpin may be running experiments here, so I'm here to find out if that infos true and considering we don't like Ozpin maybe get this place shut down"

"Well that's a lot to do"

"Yeah, I got to ask you don't tell anyone about this"

"Well we all have our secrets don't we"

"Yeah"

As the two finished there milk they headed back to the dorm to go back to sleep and thanks to there milk even Yangs snoring didn't keep them up.

Tweeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeet!*

"Wahhh-!"

"Whoooa-!" Blake yelped after Luna, the raven haired girl herself falling out of there bed from sheer fright. While their reactions weren't as startled as the first two, both Yang and Weiss rose from slumber, Yang rubbing her eyes with her knuckles as Weiss simply pinched the sleepies between her eyes.

"What was that?" Blake questioned.

She soon figured out what that was when Luna started yelling "What the hell Ruby!!"

Ruby shrunk at Luna's yelling "oh sorry I forgot"

"Don't worry about it, just please, don't do that again"

Weiss finally becoming fully awake "why did you wake use up so early anyway you dolt"

"Because Weiss we need to decorate the room"

Blake got up of the ground "I agree the room is a little cramped with all the beds spread out"

"Oh I know bunk beds"

"And how would you suggest we do that"

"Yo give 20 minutes and it'll be done Yang I might need a little help from you"

"Alrighty"

As everyone bare Luna and Yang left the room all they heard was "hey careful with that fire"

(20 minutes later)

"Alright were done, you can come back in"

"Woah this is so cool" said Ruby looking at the two stacked beds

"Thanks, but we still got a problem as we only have four beds" scratching her head Luna doesn't know what to do

"I would like to inform you we have to het to class in thirty minutes"

"Aww crap" said Luna as she ran into the bathroom uniform in hand

"What an idiot"

As everyone got into there uniforms, they exited the room "so we have Grimm study's with a professor port, history with a huh? It's scribbled ok a Doctor Oobleck and to finish the day combat class with professor Goodwitch" Ruby explained

"Alright I suggest we run considering……" Luna looked to her watch "we have 10 minutes till class starts"

As if Luna had pridicted it she turns her head to see Team Juniper running out there room with Jaune yelling "RUN!!!"

Luna was used to boredom.

Growing up secluded from the world one of the primary ways for her to pass the time had been either training or reading whatever book she could get from the library.

You can be sure that when she says Professor Port's Grimm Studies class was boring, she wasn't just being a spoiled little girl who was used to being entertained all the time. And she certainly hadn't expected to have to outright ignore him and spend her time reading the textbook just to stay awake.

So that's what she was doing - eyes darting over the page and seeking out any important information, while her right hand idly doodled a depiction of the Boarbatusk said textbook was talking about and noting certain qualities that she'd known both from experience and things the book itself mentioned.

Idly, she heard the soft snoring of Yang and Ruby off to her right, but she paid it no mind - if they wanted to catch up on their sleep instead of learn anything that could be useful later on, that was on them.

To her left, Blake was also reading, although the book she was looking at had nothing to do with the class. Luna thought "ha that's so like Blake"

In fact, Luna was pretty sure that Weiss - who was sitting between her and Yang - Was the only one in the entire classroom even trying to listen to Professor Port - and she was shaking in her seat as the class went on in indignance that no one else was doing the same.

Luna just smirked, turning the page in the textbook and humming softly to herself.

"Hm?" She wondered, her head shooting up when she absently heard Port ask for a volunteer, she tilted her head away from the girl to her right when Weiss suddenly shouted a response while standing up in her seat.

Sheesh. Eager, much?

Luna closed her book and set her pencil down, deciding to raise her arms and stretch. Wincing when she heard more than a few joints pop while Weiss went to go change into her battle gear and get her weapon.

"What'd I miss?" Yang murmured, still trying to shake herself awake, simultaneously nudging her sister awake.

"Huh oh yeah I'm awake" was Ruby's response rubbing her eyes

"Honestly, not much." Luna noted dryly. "I'd just treat this as homeroom free study if I were you, I get the feeling his lecture is meant to supplement the textbook anyway, not the other way around."

While she was excited, she didn't say anything. She wanted to see what she had to work with with her teammate...And to do that she needed to see how Weiss carried herself in a fight. She hadn't had the chance to see either her, nor Yang in action yet.

She didn't pick up her pencil. She didn't need it. It's not like she'd really had much of an opportunity to take notes during combat training with her sister. Weapon designs and engineering, yes. Combat training? No.

The first thing she noticed, with a wince, was how utterly unobservant Weiss was to the world around her. So focused was she on getting her stance perfect that she almost seemed to forget about the snarling Grimm right in front of her.

And then that point was hammered home with brutality when Weiss did finally start to fight the thing - her perfected stance quickly became less than perfect upon the first move - and of course, she didn't bother to fix it then...who would, when they were being attacked?

But the fact that she kept trying to batter her rapier against the armored plates of the monstrosity was even more baffling to Rose.

"Go Weiss" Yang cheered waving two flags with there team name on them

"Do your best" said Blake waving a slightly smaller flag

Luna just sat there wincing at Weiss's display

She had a gods-damned rapier! Stick the pointy bit between the plates! Or better yet, get the thing on its back and have a go at its completely unprotected stomach!

"Weiss go for its belly there's no armor there" yelled Ruby

"Thank dust someone knows basic combat tactics here" Luna thought

"Don't tell me what to… ahhh" Weiss was cut of as the Boarbatusk crashed into her knocking her weapon out of her hands

"Ho ho what will you do without your weapon" professor port chuckled

In response to the Boarbatusk charging again she rolled out of the way running for her weapon, grabbing it looking toward her opponent as it began spinning into a charge, summoning her glyph blocking the charge and flipping it upside down thrusting her rapier into its stomach killing it.

Yes, Weiss had won, but it had been far sloppier than it should have been. It had taken far too long for a simple Boarbatusk and it had taken far too much out of Weiss to kill it.

But, Luna now had a plan.

Mostly one that involved her beating the crap out of Weiss with her powers until Weiss started working off of instinct, instead of knowledge.

And if you accused Luna of just wanting to bash some snobby racist rich girl in the side of the head with a lightning powered fist...Well...You wouldn't be wrong.

As class ended Weiss walked out of the room in a huff followed by a slightly pissed Luna.

"Do you think Weiss hates me" Ruby asked looking at her sister on the verge of tears

"No I don't think so Sis I think she just a little tired that's all"

Blake just looked on seeing Luna follow Weiss out of the class

(In the halls)

"Hey princess wait up" Luna called out toward Weiss

"What do you want you stupid faun….." just as before the words died in her throat

As Luna gave Weiss another glare "What did I say about being racist" cutting of the glare "anyway that's not why I'm here" crossing her arms Luna looks legitimately concerned "what up with you and Ruby she was just trying to give you a tip"

"The dolt was just being distracting"

"Distractining by giving you a tip on how to kill a easy to kill Grimm, that if we're being honest up until she gave you the tip you were failing"

"How dare you, I knew exactly what I was doing that child was just a distraction"

"She may be younger than you but she's still our team leader, so you should show her more respect"

"Ozpin made a mistake"

"Excuse me?"

"She should haven't been made team leader, I have trained for years to be the best and I came to Beacon and now I'm expected to take orders from a child who got here on a flook!"

"It was no flook I saw first hand the skills that got her here and she may be young but trust me she is twice the leader you, me, or anyone else could be"

"How do you know that?, how can you be sure she won't just lead us into the dirt"

"I can't be sure"

"What!?"

"I can't be sure she won't be the worst leader ever, but there is always a chance she could be the best leader ever, all I'm asking is that you give her a chance"

"If it will get you to stop lecturing me than fine, I will try to be nicer"

"That's all I ask"

"Good, well I'll be seeing you"

With that Weiss walked away and as soon as she out of sight Luna turned around and who she saw was someone she didn't wish to have to interact with

"Hello miss Fall it is good to see you" said Ozpin his usual deadpan look

Luna was frozen she didn't know why but looking at this man so close to her it made her scared to scared to speak, to move to do anything

"I see you had a issue with a teammate, but I assume you can handle it"

Using all the courage she had Luna spoke "umm ye…yes sir I…I can….handle it"

"Good I'll leave you to" as he walked away he looked back "oh and miss Fall please, stay out of trouble"

Luna remained frozen until Ozpin turned the corner as soon as he did she was gone in a burst of lightning she rushed to her dorm.

"Mmmh..." Luna moaned to herself as she slouched on her bed in a slump.

Today had truly been an... odd... day as a member of Team RSYBL. For reasons completely unknown to her, reasons she couldn't contemplate or comprehend, the headmaster scared her shitless. At first she thought it was just a feeling. While she didn't know exactly why she felt this feeling. Sure, maybe he looked a little like the man in her nightmares but she knew those were just nightmares this was reality.

Her feelings of confusion and despair weren't unnoticed by her faithful companion. Having these thoughts swirling around her head for nearly the last twenty minutes, Corrán took it upon herself to pop out of her shadow, checking on her young cub. She didn't have to worry about any of her friends dropping in on her for the time being since they gathered at the school's library to work on homework. At the very least, she didn't need to worry about Corrán being out for just a few minutes.

"Hrrrrnh..." The Tiger whined, laying down as it looked into Luna's saddened eyes.

"Keep it down Corrán, you don't wanna draw attention." Luna mumbled.

"Hrrrrrnh." The tiger moaned again, rubbing Luna's chin in the hopes of cheering her up.

"Not now Corrán, I'm not in a mood."

hmmf*

"Corrán, I said no!"

"Huh? Hey, you guys are here too?" Blake spoke up as she walked down the hall. To her surprise, she saw both Nora and Pyrrha gathered in the hallway before a door, the very same Blake wanted to meet.

Blake wanted to get some assistance from Team JNPR to try an quell the argument going on between Luna, Ruby and Weiss.

(In the beacon courtyard)

Weiss was sitting under a tree thinking about her conversation with Luna not noticing a certain headmaster walking up behind her.

"Tiring day?" The voice spoke from behind Weiss as they approached. To Weiss' surprise, it was Headmaster Ozpin, the Headmaster being someone she was looking forward to talking to about this.

"Oh! Professor Ozpin!" Weiss greeted respectfully with a small curtsy.

"Now now, no need for the formalities." He said, gazing out at the view like she was moments before with his mug in hand. "I always enjoy coming out here to clear my mind on things, and it appears this time I have the pleasure of company."

"Professor Ozpin, thank goodness you're here. I need to talk to you about one of the students you recently made leader." She said, the urgency in her voice sounding severe.

"Oh? Is something the matter?" He wondered.

"It's about that girl you made the leader of Team RSYBL, Ruby Rose."

"Oh, her?" He was rather curious where this conversation was about to go. "Please, do tell."

"Well, it's just... Mmmh I think making her the leader was a mistake."

"A mistake? How so?"

"Well... W-With everything!" She yelled. "She's way too childish for any decent leader-"

"Yes...?"

"-she barely pays any attention to any of the lessons given to her-"

"Oh dear..."

"-and she's nothing but a distraction when someone's in training. She distracted me right in the middle of class when I was fighting a Grimm, any other student could've gotten seriously hurt!"

"Oh my." She smiled at this. Hearing every reply to her words told her he was listening to every word of hers carefully, taking the matter seriously like a respectable man like him should. "That is quite serious, dreadful even."

"Exactly! There's no telling what sort of disaster could occur by making her the leader of her own team."

"Huff, do you know how I became Headmaster, Weiss?" He asked, getting her attention as she leaned on the railing too. "Do you think I was the perfect student? Do you think I simply bought a giant place and decided to start being the Headmaster of an academy of skilled Hunters and Huntresses."

"I know it couldn't have been easy..." She muttered.

"You have no idea." He watched as he poured the remaining contents of the mug over the railing, both watching as a few droplets dripped from the empty cup. "I did it by making mistakes. Lots, and lots, and lots, of mistakes. More so than any man, woman, or child on this planet, I assure you."

"And you learned from those mistakes, right?" She guessed.

"Actually... no." His response actually surprised the dignified Schnee herself. "No matter what mistake I made, I made it time and again. Sometimes it was similar to one problem, sometimes it was completely different. But a mistake is the same thing no matter how much the problem changes. And every single mistake lead to a different consequence. Sometimes someone got mad, sometimes I embarrassed myself, and sometimes... something more personal would happen." The vague tone in his voice told her all she needed to know what he was getting at. "And each and everyone one of those times, it would make me a better leader, until I became the man I am today."

"So you want Ruby to learn from her mistakes too, right?" That much did make sense for her now that she thought about it. With someone as young as Ruby, she needed to learn quickly about how to adapt to the real world and what it meant to grow up. Perhaps making her the leader of a team wasn't that much of a bad idea in the long run?

'Once again... no. Out of all the mistakes I've made, I don't consider making Ruby the leader of her own team one of them."

Ok, maybe she was off with his logic and reasoning. "You don't?"

"No, I don't. I choose each of the leaders out of instinct, and because you all had a special quality about you that made you perfect to lead each team, not just because of how high you scored during the initiation." He explained. "With every single person I made leader, I took careful deliberation of all the pros and cons, and made sure none of them would be a decision I regret. Which is why I need you to trust me in my judgement with everything I do."

"I..." What was she supposed to say at this point? She couldn't say with a good conscious that she agreed with any of his reasoning whatsoever! Ruby was still a bit of a nut to her, and even if she was overthinking some of the issues with her, she still didn't seem like a qualified leader. At the same time, she couldn't say she disagreed with him either! Disagreeing with someone as refined as the Headmaster himself would've been a blemish on her family name, she would've been a disgrace to anything she said or did immediately after. "I... umm..."

"Besides, miss Schnee, tell me exactly how many mistakes she's actually made up to this point?" He requested.

"Aside from distracting me during the lesson today?" She asked, trying to think back. "...None..."

"Exactly." His glasses shimmered as he wiped them off. "She has only been the leader of your team for a single day. Give her some time to figure things out for herself, and be the respectable member of Team RSYBL everyone wants you to be by assisting her when she truly needs it."

As much as she hated to admit it to herself, he was right, and she was wrong. It had only been a single day, and despite the little hiccup she had during the fight with the Grimm, she hasn't done anything actually bad as her first day of being leader. If anything, she had to admit suggesting bunk beds in there room to help save on space was a little creative.

"I... I understand... I'm sorry." She frowned slightly. Ozpin eased her guilt as he patted her shoulder for a moment, giving her a comforting smile.

"It's quite alright. Yesterday was a bit exciting for everyone, so there's undoubtedly some stress students are still trying to get over." He commented. That was actually something she hadn't considered. Nearly half the students came to near-death at the hands of the monstrous Grimm, who knows who was still stressed about the events, whether or not on a conscious level themselves. He truly was a wise headmaster for pointing out something simple yet unthought of to her. "But if it's all the same," he continued as he began to walk away, "maybe I'm not the one you should be apologizing."

That was one statement she wasn't going to be easy with. As much as it annoyed her, and regardless of whatever doubts and issues she still had with her, she knew she had to do it.

She owed Ruby an apology.

"-and for the last two years, I haven't heard from her since." Blake said, finishing her explanation.

The surprising amount of details and explanation coming from the Faunus-in-incognito's story was truly something. None of them were expecting the amount of details, however much varied and vague, that lead them to understanding Luna's early life. Of course there were a few things she kept in the dark like her own Family's true relationship with Luna's as business partners, the fact they were Faunus and such, as well as Luna's relationship to Roman Torchwick, the very man Luna referred to as uncle. She just informed the two about how Luna's family was a group of business people who who were known to be a little shady, whether it was for the fabricated-sake of helping other people less fortunate, or otherwise.

And boy was it a surprising amount of detail to give! Despite how little the information was actually true, to hear that their team leader, the girl who was two years younger than most of them, came from a group of shady business people was rather shocking. It's no wonder Glynda herself was so uneasy with the girl, knowing she might actually know a detail or two about Luna's family roots.

There was no way she wouldn't know about Luna's possible criminal family if someone like Blake knew so easily. Then again, considering she was friends with her for early parts of her life, that did make things a little easier to explain.

Either way, everything she said between then and now as still just as amazing. Luna being the daughter of a family of shady buisness people.

Nora definitely had more curious and fun questions to ask Luna at this point, most importantly if she ever preformed a heist.

"Fascinating..." Pyrrha commented rubbing her chin. "And you're sure you can trust her completely, then? You don't think it's a bit strange you just happen to meet up after two hole years apart?"

"Yeah I'm sure." Blake informed, to a regretful level. "I don't know if she's here for a reason, or what that reason could even be. But she's my friend I can trust her.

"Hmhm well if you trust her, she has my full support as well." Pyrrha decided, much to Blake's relief.

"Yeah, no matter how evil or weird she might get, she won't get any weird looks from me!" Nora cheered, pumping her fist in the air.

"Hee heh heh." Blake's chuckle came from both, joy, and relief. She was thankful beyond words that they were willing to trust her as much as she was, despite the fact she herself wasn't entirely sure why she was here. At the same time, she was just thankful to know that two of Luna's new friends were willing to give her the benefit of the doubt too. "Look, she might not seem like the most normal person at times, but trust me, there's nothing weird about her." She said as she opened the door to her room. "She's completely normal."

"Dawwwwwww, who's a good Corrán? You are, yes you are!" Luna gushed excitedly as she rubbed Corrán's belly.

She couldn't help it. Corrán was just too good of a negotiator. Her options were either be happy, or be really happy, and Corrán continued nudgingand nuzzling eventually broke Luna out of her depressed stupor. As opposed to her previous state of despair and regret, she now found herself excitedly rubbing Corrán's belly, the tiger Grimm lying on it's back, body taking up half the bed, as it wagged it's tail excitedly.

"Oohhhhh, you'we such a good wittle Corrán, yes you are!" Luna continued. "You're so playful and cutie and nice, and-!" She froze.

It was only now, with the sudden draft she felt, that she looked back towards the slightly closed doorway. And there she saw, all three of them, all looking at her with a blank look in their eyes and a speechless echo coming from their mouths as Blake closed the door.

Thanks to her previously-depressed state, she forgot her top three rules: 1, keep Corrán hidden at all times except for an emergency. 2, make sure no one else finds out about Corrán. And 3, always lock the door if she ever wanted Corrán to come out for whatever reason.

Now here she was, with nothing more than a blank expression on her face and in her eyes as she stared at the three friends nervously, Corrán looking to them as well still wagging her tail.

"Umm... I can explain I swear…."

"Talk. Now." Blake practically ordered to the speechless tiger girl. All she could do was poke her fingers together as she tried to think of an explanation for the events before her.

Up till now, her job was relatively easy. All she had to do since coming here was infiltrate the facility, learn any weaknesses in said facility. All in all, it seemed pretty straightforward. She had her initiation just a day ago which resulted in her not only forming a team with her best friend, Blake, and two new friends and one associate, Yang Xiao Long, Ruby Rose and Weiss Schnee, forming Team RSYBL [Rosybloom]. As to whether or not that would make her job any easier had yet to be seen, but she was looking forward to being part of her team for the time being. And great news, Blake seems to be on board with helping her.

Once her job was done, she would bail as soon as the opportunity presented itself. But that didn't mean she didn't want to make any friends possible. After all, this was her first time being out in the open world on her own, and there were a variety of different things she had to discover, both bad and good! Yet Ozpin made her feel legitimate fear.

As such, being the caring caregiver and guardian she's been up to this point, sensing her Cubs despair, Corrán entered the room from her shadow in the hopes to cheer her up, and as much as Luna didn't want any pestering, she eventually fell for Corrán's playful, nuzzling, charms. She was just the perfect negotiator that no one could say no to, continuing to rub into Luna's neck ticklishly and nudging her jaw until she cheered up. Eventually, Luna was unable to resist the helpful tiger mother's feelings, finding herself playing with the large near-bed-sized tiger up to this very point.

Unfortunately, that's where disaster happened; no sooner had she started playing with Corrán, rubbing the playful tigers belly, did her three friends drop in on her after met up to try and solve the argument problem.

Even Blake had no words for what she just stumbled across, unable to think of a single thing to her fellow teammates that witnessed the same scene.

"Well...ehh..." To say Luna was in a nervous panic would've been the grandest of understatements.

At all times, she was told to follow three direct rules when it came to Corrán: 1, always keep Corrán hidden unless it was an emergency. 2, never bring Corrán out in public, even if it's in a room by herself. And 3, if for whatever reason she does bring Corrán out, always make sure she kept the door to whatever room they were in locked. And now here she was after breaking those rules not two days into her stay at Beacon. "It's uhhh... It's kinda hard to explain..."

"Try me." Blake dared. She wasn't being hard on Luna out of anger or feelings of betrayal, but fear.

She trusted Luna with all her heart, so she knew she could trust Luna. The problem was she needed an explanation and fast, less her teammates been to panic and tell Glynda everything they just saw.

Luna doing something as bizarre as having a Grimm with her in the center of an ACADEMY FULL OF HUNTERS might cause a complication or two.

"W-Well... you uhh... you probably wouldn't believe me if I told you..." She commented, the nervousness in her eyes only covered by the tip of the hood that dangled down to her nose from Blake's point of view. "Y-You see uhh...Y-You know how I like to train?"

"Yeaaaah...?" Blake crossed her arms as she listened.

"W-Well, umm... I went out to the woods one day but when fighting of some Grimm I lost my footing and fell inguring myself pretty bad getting knocked unconscious , when I woke up a large Grimm was standing above me." She hated above all else to lie to Blake, but she had absolutely no choice by this point.

"And that Grimm happened to be..." Blake trailed off, looking to the tiger in question.

"Corrán's den mother, or at least what I think was her den mother at the time." She clarified. "I don't know why either, but for some reason she didn't eat me, instead when I woke up, I found myself surrounded by a bunch of tiger-like Grimm pups, a lot of them actually not much bigger than I was at the time."

"A Grimm actually saved you?" Blake wondered rubbing her chin. There were numerous Grimm in the world, some old, some new, and many that had yet to be documented, at least not by still-living researchers, so the possibility wasn't impossible. She had yet to hear of a Grimm though that wouldn't devour a human or faunes on sight.

"I-I know it sounds weird, trust me, I couldn't believe it at first myself either. Honestly, I think it's thanks to my tiger features she didn't eat me."

"Because your like a tiger?"

"Yeah because with most of the cubs being as young as they were, they were actually way smaller than a grown up around my size back then." She stated. so all I could actually think of was that the den mother thought I was a lost cub or something... At least it was half right about the lost part, heh heh..." She chuckled nervously, trying to let out a small joke to help break the tension a little bit.

It didn't work.

"Well if what you say is true, then that still doesn't explain the Grimm here. You said it was... what did you call the tiger again?"

"Corrán it's from an old language Irish I think it means crescent." Of course someone like Luna would name her that.

"Yeah, you said it was Corrán's mother that found you, right?"

"Yeah..."

"Then what does that have to do with this tiger?"

"Yeah, s-so about that, um... Y-You see, I ended up sticking with Corrán's family for nearly a month. I mean I didn't really have any other option at that point, if they found out who I was, they might've killed me, and besides I didn't know how to get back home from where I was."

"Wait, doesn't that mean you ate with them?" A notable twinge of fear crossed Blake's mind. "L-Luna... you didn't...did you eat p-"

"What- no! It's nothing like that!" She quickly sputtered, waving her hands back and forth. "I mean... they did occasionally hunt a human or two, but obviously I didn't do anything involving that, I was confined to the cave they stayed near. For the most part, the only time I ever ate was when they brought back dead animals here and there. I don't know if they caught on to me being a faunes or not at any point cause thank dust for my powers starting a fire was easy.

"Anyway, when it came to those times, I cooked the food over a fire, the wolves seemed to like it when it was cooked. Otherwise the only other time I managed to eat were the occasional times they let the other large pups roam the forest. Any time they I did what I could to collect apples or anything else I could find from trees."

"You never tried to run away?"

"Of course I did." Luna rolled her eyes at the obvious question. "A day or two after I recovered and I finally got some food and had enough energy to, I ran in the middle of the night. But one of the larger tigers tracked me down and carried me back to the cave, I was thankful it didn't try and eat me!"

"But what does that have to do with Corrán?!" Blake nearly yelled growing frustrated. This story was sounding a bit ridiculous, but considering none of the fellow teammates have ever come across a species of Grimm like Corrán, they couldn't necessarily call her a liar. But the longer Luna continued her explanation, the more likely they were to disbelieve her. And there was only so much she could do to protect her until she herself started doubting Luna.

"I was getting to that, Blake-" Luna tried to ease her worries despite what fear she had welling up inside herself.

"Well get to it faster! I mean for goodness sake Luna, you have a Grimm with you. People are going to be terrified!"

"Dawwwww, who's just a fwuffy wuvvie kiiitttyy!" Nora awwed as she continued to rub the tiger stomach. Up to this point, much like they found her when this entire discovery began, Corrán had remained put on her back as Luna tried to explain her presence to the fellow group. Growing bored within five seconds of the conversation, Nora was rubbing the beast's belly rubbing it the seemingly-playful tigers stomach for the last several minutes, Corrán playfully wagging it's tail. Whether it was Luna's own will keeping Corrán from acting any different or Corrán own simple playfulness with friends to it's young cub had yet to be determined, and for the time being, neither she, Luna, or Nora cared.

After all, who could get terrified at a terrifyingly vicious killer tiger grimm that could shred a single student to bits?

Certainly not Nora!

Blake moaned mentally at the sight of the girl, the valkyrie not helping her case whatsoever. "Ok, well that's just Nora. But what about the others?!"

"You have such a lovely fur coat." Pyrrha commented as she kneeled near the tigers head, patting her head.

"You're not helping!" Blake yelped.

"Look, Blake, as for the rest of the story," Luna continued, "it's a bit of a trick the tigers can do."

Blake watched as Luna turned back towards the tiger, signaling her attention. In one simple descent, the three girls watched as Corrán suddenly dove into Luna's shadow for several seconds, their eyes going wide with shock, before the tiger emerged several seconds later sitting at attention before Luna. "Whatever species of Grimm Corrán is, they can merge into peoples' shadows."

"Oh my..." Pyrrha commented as she rubbed her chin, detailing everything she just saw.

"That's AWESOME!" Nora cheered with excitement. Before any of the other three could react, Corrán let out a quiet yelp as Nora suddenly had the tiger stuck in a headlock, the tiger scampering in fear trying to pull itself out of Nora's mighty grip as she pushed it into the ground where her shadow was. "C'mon, do it again! Jump into my shadow!"

"Ack! Nora, it doesn't work like that!" Luna panicked, worried for both Nora's and Corrán's safety from the opposite person. "She can only jump into my shadow now, she can't go into anything else!"

"Awwwww..." Nora whined as she released the beast, the poor tiger huddling itself behind the bunk bed on the opposite side of Nora. Not once in Luna's life had she seen the tiger so terrified of someone until today.

"So whatever this tiger Grimm is, it can jump into a person's shadow?" Pyrrha questioned. "But wouldn't that make life more than difficult for you if you spent the last two years with Corrán following you? I mean if Corrán had to eat anything, that would expose you and her."

"Normally it would, but ever since I got Corrán, she hasn't eaten anything, unless it's just for the taste or a treat or some thing. And she never comes out on her own unless I'm in danger or I want her to." Luna replied. "She pretty much draws her strength from me and vice-versa and all that. Long as I'm alive, she's alive too, though I'm not sure if the opposite holds true either."

"I see... So it kind of has a parasitic relationship with you then." Pyrrha stated. "She's with you and drawing strength from you, but if something happens to you she'll die too."

"Mmh... Yeah, I guess that's scientific term" Luna said with a nod "but I like to think she's like my guardian angel in a sense". While she might not have learned very much about other types of animals in the world, she learned a good handful of details about Grimm from her dear sweet grandma, and knew what terminology Pyrrha was referring to when it came to a parasitic relationship.

It pays to have the leader of the Grimm as your grandmother.

"Why do you still have it with you?" Blake asked, never losing an ounce of the same worry she once did. Despite the lengthy details and facts Luna's given them about Corrán, she had yet to tell her anything about the apparent tiger pack she came across.

"Well... the thing is." Luna mumbled with a frown as she poked her fingers. "See after a few weeks, a group of hunters came around and started attacking Corrán's family, so I used that time to make my escape from the den. I'm just lucky I knew how to use my powers by that point or they might've found me."

"Wouldn't it have made more sense to stick with them and ask them for help?" Nora pointed out.

"Well yeah, that was the plan after the first couple seconds, but then I had a worry. I worried they might try to hunt me too if they knew Corrán was stuck in my shadow." She revealed.

"Why were you worried about that? You could've just told them the truth about the tiger."

"And do you think they would believe me? Do you think any of them would've cared about killing a faunes that could make a Grimm come out of her shadow?"

As much as Blake tried to find a retort to the question, she was at a loss. Not two minutes ago did Luna display the incredible ability of Corrán being able to jump in and out of her own shadow, and, despite being told everything beforehand, they still couldn't help find it a little concerning that she could do it at all.

They might think she was a Grimm, or some demon girl who was either possessed by a Grimm or could control the Grimm. she could've worried about any number of things or excuses explaining why she didn't trust the hunters.

And all of this stemmed from one detailed lie.

"I was worried they'd think I was a Grimm too or something, so I ran away from the den. Corrán's been by my side ever since."

"Then why did you come all the way to Beacon, Luna?" Pyrrha asked curiously. "Wouldn't that pretty much put you in the center of so much danger?"

"So the reason you came to Beacon in the first place..." She trailed off.

"Was to see if there was a way to remove Corrán from my shadow or something." She answered.

"No actually I don't want to separate myself from Corrán I just can't bring myself to harm her or not have her by my side anyway." She added, walking over to the tiger was she pat her head calmly.

"Thanks to her, I've been able to fend for myself wherever I went, and she's really good at scaring off Grimm that've come near me."

"I see...mmhh..." Blake nibbled on her thumbnail a bit as she tried to think. What would be the solution to all this then? Ask someone for help? Hope the problem fixes itself? She definitely couldn't betray Luna's trust after all this time, not after all Blake did to her by abandoning her. This would've been the perfect chance to redeem herself for the younger best friend, even if every fiber of Blake's person was telling her not to for some reason. Noticing Luna's brief distraction of Corrán, Blake quietly turned to the other two in whisper. "What do you two think?"

"I say we keep him!" Nora exclaimed. It didn't come anywhere near her favorite person in the world, but she just couldn't bring herself to throw out an adorably dangerous kitty like Corrán.

"I will admit it's a bit much to take in, but it might be better for everyone if we try to help Luna." Pyrrha smiled. "Even if we didn't agree with anything she said, it might put us at risk too if the Grimm is exposed before anyone else. We're just as likely in trouble if Luna ever gets caught."

"And you're not worried about anything Luna said?" Blake needed to know to make sure there was no room for doubt.

"Anything Luna said? No. I am curious though what sort of Grimm Corrán is. I don't think there's ever been mention of his species."

"Well we can investigate that part of it ourselves, but we should at least trust Luna for the time being."

"What about the time?" Luna asked overhearing parts of the huddled whispering her ears perking up.

Glancing back at Pyrrha and Nora once more, Blake smiled to her friend with a calming sigh. "We said we'll help you with whatever you need involving Corrán." From one split second, Luna's eyes sparkled like the night's starry sky, and in the next second, Blake found herself nearly tackled off her feet as Luna threw herself at her in a tight hug.

"Oooooh thank you thank you thank you!" She squeaked, Blake unable to resist the small blush on her face as she patted Luna's head rubbing her ears.

"But you need to make sure no one else finds out about Corrán, Luna." Blake reminded. "We can't risk anyone else finding out about the Grimm."

"Oh pffft," Nora sputtered waving her hand playfully, "who's gonna find out we're harboring a Grimm around here?"

knock*

knock*

knock*

"Ahhhh! What have I done?!" Nora panicked, squeezing her cheeks.

"It's ok, Nora, relax." Luna said in a calming tone. Gesturing to the tiger once more, the others watched as Luna ushered the tiger to her person, diving into her shadow once more and vacated the room. "Keeping Corrán hidden won't be too hard. As long as nothing's covering her or blocking her, she can hide inside my shadow indefinitely." And with a smile, the faunes made her way to the dorm's only exit, growing shocked at the sight she saw.

It was Ruby and Weiss standing side by side no arguing, it was a miracle.

"Hey Luna, thanks for talking to Weiss"

"Yeah…. no problem"

"So Weiss you wanted to say something"

"Yes I did I was hoping to do it in private but this will do"

"Don't worry, Well give you your privacy" as Luna left the room she patted Weiss's shoulder and whispered "Good on you ice queen"

With that Luna, Pyrrha, Nora and Blake left the room but that didn't stop Luna from putting her ears to the wall

"Luna what are you doing"

"Shush shush there starting"

(Back in the room)

"So…..Weiss what did you want to talk about" a realization struck Ruby "if its about before I'm really sorry I didn't mean to distract…." Ruby was cut off

"No! just, Look, I've given it some thought, and determined... We're not equals. Not by the least."

"However," she continued on before Ruby could feel any negativity, "after some thought, I decided... maybe it's for the best." That one single line actually brought more confusion than it did joy to the young white hooded girl, granted it did relieve her somewhat. "Our team together is a bit disjointed, with so many unbalanced people and without any sense of order. So, maybe having someone just as hyper as you and as careless actually makes for the best leader."

"I'm not careless Weiss," Ruby stated looking back to the door, "I care a lot about our team and our friends. I'm just trying to adjust to a lot of new things here."

"Heh, makes sense." Weiss chuckled. "After allyour the youngest leader in Beacon history, and you have a lot of pressure on you. But I didn't mean it negatively like that. I mean someone easy going and calm would probably make the best leader for your team, no matter how old you are." She could already feel the growing smile emanating from Ruby's person, the girl absolutely beaming from her words.

"So you're not mad then?" As much as she wanted to correct Ruby's outlook on this, she just didn't have the heart to.

"Honestly, maybe I was never mad in the first place. I guess I really was just jealous that you were made team leader instead of me." She finally admitted. "And for that, I'm sorry."

Ruby was in a bit of awe at Weiss' confession, seeing the confession as a good sign that they were no longer enemies with one another, or at least Weiss no longer considered Ruby an enemy. She knew a part of Weiss was definitely Jealous of not becoming leader, she just had the decency to not point it out directly or try to convince Weiss how she truly felt. And if she was finally ready to apologize for what she said and look passed it all, then maybe the two could finally be what Ruby deeply wanted.

"So... does this means we're friends now?" She wondered.

"Hmmm... I wouldn't exactly say "friends" right now," she replied to Ruby's dismay, "but we're definitely not enemies anymore or anything. I'd say we're possibly halfway passed acquaintances, and... nearly friends." She said as she gave Ruby a cheeky grin. "After all, just because I accept you as being team leader, doesn't mean I fully accept you yet as being a Huntress like the rest of us. If you want to earn that, you're gonna have to prove it to me personally."

"Heh, you're on!" Ruby cheered, pumping her fist out in excitement.

"Heh..." The Schnee couldn't refuse the challenge she presented herself. With nothing more than a small smile, she fist bumped, prepared to prove to Ruby just how much of a huntress she was, and Ruby was prepared to show Weiss the same.

It was an official Rivalry between Acquaintances.

Between two Friends.

Later...*

tap-tap-tap-tap-tap-tap-tap-tap-*

Fingers pressed upon the keyboards endlessly with no end in sight. For the past several hours, Glynda Goodwitch was making progress with the current students' grades and details over the presendented Orientation they had the other day, finalizaing all reports and filing them accordingly into the school's mainframe. There, they would be presented within the Codex of Beacon for the history to come, where every student would be forever categorized for who and what they were even after they graduated the academy.

During this process, she also gazed at the security footage on the following screens right of the computer she was working on. They gave her a pleasant view of everything within and surrounding the academy walls, giving her a view of every nook and cranny across the school and all of it's borders. It was the best way to keep an eye on all the students at the time, and to ensure everyone remained asleep as she worked, with one particular student among all else.

Luna Fall, or Luna Drake to who knew her outside of the experiments those who knew her during that time she was just known as D-2.

Obviously they didn't have any cameras within the school's dorms, giving the students the privacy they required and needed. After all, it would've been a grand invasion of their rights and freedoms if they had security cameras everywhere private like the dorms or the bathrooms across Beacon, locker rooms included. It was during this time though that a particular figure moved across the Camera, as well as one approaching her from behind.

"Working late, I see?" Ozpin greeted as he observed her progress.

"Just finishing the orientation exams and the Teams created today." Glynda replied, taking a noteable pause from her work as she observed the camera more thoroughly.

It was at this moment his curiosity was getting the better of him, noticing Glynda's unwavering attention to the security.

"Is something the matter?"

"It's Team Rosybloom's window, sir. Apparently, two individuals are sneaking out during everyone's slumber and leaving the academy."

"Huh... I didn't think Luna would be so hasty in completing her mission." The perplexed expression crossing Glynda's face only increased the worry of the matter.

"But that's part of the problem, sir. It's not just Luna sneaking out right now."

"It's not?"

"No, sir. She's with... Blake."


	12. Chapter 12

(1 month later)

Fighting.

One of the primary roles of every Hunter and Huntress in existence. Whether it's against one another for the sake of a festival or Tournament, fighting against bandits, thugs, criminals, or to slay the notorious Grimm that inhabit this world alongside each and every human, a Hunter's job is never finished until one side is defeated, creating a never ending spiral of violence, each side creating their own additional factor of Hope and Despair. And it was the very thing every Hunter trained for at this prestigious academy known as Beacon.

At the present, two well known students were currently undergoing a rigorous training exercise, supervised by the teacher Glynda Goodwitch herself. Jaune, the average all-around student who did his best to fit in and prove he was strong enough to be called a hunter, was up against an equally well-known student known as Cardin Winchester, the leader of team CRDL and school bully of this place. He didn't care who he picked on or his reasons for it, all that mattered was showing his dominance and superiority to those around him.

And Jaune was no exception.

No matter how hard he tried, how many strikes he landed with his blade, he had yet to land so much as a scratch on his opponent. He might have had the advantage over Cardin thanks to having two items in hand, his sword and shield respectively, but Cardin's grand mace was overpowering both of those key details, He easily bashed away any defense Jaune could muster, he managed to swipe Jaune's blade to the side, and all it took was a simple kick to push him away, thankfully in the direction of his blade for him to swipe.

"Ahhhh!" Jaune yelled in fury as he charged forward once more. Cardin could grin with pride as casually blocked Jaune's attack with his own weapon. No amount of force or confidence could shake Cardin's own determination, the blonde already being out of breath by this point in time. To Jaune's credit, he wasn't backing down from his present attack, but Cardin wasn't giving any leeway in the slightest.

Meanwhile, all Jaune's friends could do was watch from the seats at the current demonstration. Among them Team RSYBL and Team JNPR were naturally sitting close together, seeing how they were all friends.

"Shouldn't you tell Jaune what to do, Phyrra?" Ruby whispered to her right.

"I would like to but we can't do that during a demonstration, Ruby. Besides, I can't just tell Jaune how to do everything when it comes to fighting or he'll never be able to figure it out for himself when he needs to." The amazon remarked.

She wasn't lying about her reasoning, and it's not like she liked watching him get his butt kicked either. Every word of it was true, and Jaune did need to learn how to settle his own fights. If Pyhrra had to instruct him on every little detail he would never become a true reliable hunter like he always wanted to be. On top of that, if a day ever came where he needed to fight his own battle, and no one was around to help him, his death was only assured.

It was a sad reality that she knew, and one Pyrrha was too painfully aware of. Jaune was a dear friend to her most out of the many people she came to know of, and it agonized her to see someone like Jaune getting his butt whooped so easily. He never backed down, nor did he ever show any signs of surrendering, yet that mattered very little to a tournament style duel, even more in times of great danger.

And it only troubled Ruby more when she realized there really was no counterargument to that.

"This is the part where you lose." Cardin informed, slowly pushing back against the weaker student.

"Over my dead-!"

Bam!*

"Oof-!" Jaune yelped as he slowly dropped to his knees.

Every creature has it's weakness. For some, it's their achilles heel. Others, it's the sight of their own reflection. For every man like Jaune, it was that very sensitive part between their legs, and while it was a good couple inches away from the region, the very same Cardin cheaply kneed him when the opportunity presented itself. Again, it was a cheap tactic, and unfair in most cases, but like any other situation, in a real life or death battle, no one would hesitate to do whatever it took to win, just like Luna remembered her mother always telling her about.

Hunters never played fair. Hunters never cared about those around them other than for facial value and personal support. And hunters didn't care who got hurt in the way of their victory, so long as they could turn out as the heroes of the day. Cardin was no exception.

None of her friends and allies were... except Blake.

Still reeling in from the pain, Jaune groaned as he looked above himself, seeing Cardin grinning with excitement as he readied his weapon. Jaune was already down, unable to defend himself from any blow Cardin could deliver, just the way the bully preferred it. Jaune had the gall to disobey him when instructed to back down and surrender like the weakling Cardin knew him to be, so it only seemed fair to break his kneecaps to teach him a lesson. After all, Negative Reinforcement went a long way in any child's and teen's life, and as he raised his mace to deliver the next blow, he knew Jaune would never forget; never disobey Cardin.

bzzzzz*

"Huh? Ugggh..." Cardin groaned in annoyance.

"Cardin, that's enough." Glynda instructed calm yet firmly.

The familiar sound of a buzzer went off as the lights flashed back on. It was more than a good indicator that the fight was officially over and Cardin was supposed to stop. He had no problems picking on the students when able, whether or not the teachers where present in the area, but if they told him specifically to, he wouldn't go against orders. With little more than a smug look to Jaune, he holstered his weapon as he walked off stage, following the direction of his profile picture projecting his Aura level.

Cardin's was perfectly in the green, and Jaune's had dropped to the mere fourth by the time this test was over.

"Students, as you can see, Mr. Arc's aura has now dropped into the red." She explained as typed into her scroll. Jaune shook his head with a groan as he clutched his stomach, slowly rising from the ground where he lied in pain. "In a tournament style duel, this would indicate that Jaune is no longer fit for battle, and that the official may call the match. Mister Arc, it's been weeks now. Please try to refer to your scroll during combat. Gauging your aura will help you decide when it is appropriate to attack, or when it is better to move move to a more... defensive strategy. We wouldn't want you to be gobbled up by a Beowulf, now would we?"

"Heh, speak for yourself." Cardin teased with a smug grin as he walked off the stage. Jaune shook his head at this as he pushed himself off the stage, not giving his friends any notice as they tried to encourage him for his effort.

Effort was the only thing he could see himself giving anymore.

"Remember students, the Vytal Festival is only a few months away." Glynda reminded, murmurs of excitement filling the crowd as they cheered silently. "It won't be long before new students start arriving in Vale, so keep practicing! Those who choose to compete in the combat tournament will be representing all of Vale."

As excited as it got the tiger faunes girl, she didn't feel it was of any import. For the last month now, she had been dedicated and searching for any sign as to where the experiments were being taken.

She did some snooping around, asked rumors to different faces about some "strange activitiy", which probably didn't help since there were people and Faunus of all varieties in this place, and so forth, and had yet to find any trace of the experiments at all.

Narrowing down her options, there were a few things she could officially note: 1, the lab was definitely within Beacon itself somewhere, there was no arguing with that. After all, her great family was on top of the situation and was well aware of all possibilities as to where it could be, especially after all the info they got on this. There was no way they could've gotten their information wrong, people like Watts were too proud of their intellect to allow themselves to be wrong about any one thing.

2, wherever the lab was, it was definitely somewhere unmarked. It wasn't going to be behind your typical closed off area, or your "Staff Only" doorway, she was going to be somewhere out of reach or somewhere Ozpin's enemies would't think of. Given all the exploring and advice she was given before their plan was set into motion, she narrowed down the labs whereabouts to somewhere within the academy of Beacon itself. That might've sound obvious on a normal basis, but Luna checked every outdoor environment and building just to be sure, she literally couldn't leave a single stone unturned or a branch unchecked.

And 3rd, wherever the lab was, it wasn't well guarded. There might've been security measures for sure, which would explain why she had yet to find a clue of the lab within the last month, but she definitely didn't have to worry about numerous guards roaming about. Since coming to this place, the only shuttle activity they ever got outside of trips to Vale and field trips were simple food deliveries and such. Bedding, possible clothing, and food were the only sources of transportation ever coming in and out of this place on a weekly notice. And while there was the possibility it was simply security disguised as nothing more than food transportation, she knew Ozpin wouldn't risk repeatedly using such a tactic unless he wanted to draw attention to the labs whereabouts should anyone ever find out or snoop around.

Whether or not these recent results were useful or proved to be a waste of effort on her part wasn't in her place to say- only her dear Granny knew whether or not her time was wasted. And, given the lack of yelling or issues she's received on her mother's end about her grandmother's disapproval, she took that as a positive sign... except for the near-panic attack her mother called her about when her grandmother announced how some of her friends discovered Corrán's existence. That took a little bit of an explanation to get over...

Still, she had to admit, for a bunch of devious coldhearted Hunters and Huntresses she knew them all to be, they seemed pretty normal. As her family constantly reminded her, it was nothing more than a charade, and one Luna was entirely aware of. Even if they actually were as innocent and kind as Luna saw them to be, this was all before they would officially become official Hunters. Once that happened, they all would've been nothing more than coldhearted monsters that Luna came to know them as.

Heck, she already knew of dozens of people already like that, like Cardin and his crew. Not once since meeting them had she seen any sort of kinder side from their person, always strutting about like they owned the entirety of Beacon, and not caring for who they picked on. They were a prime example of everything Luna knew them to be, making it only more important that she find a way to complete her mission and see her mother's and grandmother's dreams come true.

"So there we were... in the middle of the Night!"

"It was day." Ren corrected Nora.

"We were surrounded by Ursai..."

"They were Beowolves."

"Dozens of them!"

"Two of them."

"But they were no match! And in the end, Ren and I took them down, and made a boatload of Lien selling Ursa skin rugs!"

This is pretty much how every morning in the Lunchroom started, with one of the students going off about a story, whether real or fake, and then going on to talk about their classes and the rest of their day. Like everything else they did, the members of team RSYBL and JNPR were all seated together at one of the many long rows of tables, talking about what they've been through and reminiscing about some of the exams and tests they've had up to this point. Many of them were easy, some of them hard, and all around boring, except for the ones involving battles against the Grimm themselves.

"Ah... She's been having this reoccurring dream for nearly a month now." Ren sighed.

"Still sounds like fun to me." Ruby commented. "I dreamed I was riding a giant Nevermore when I was seven. It was fun until I ended up falling out of bed."

"Yeah, Grimm pretty sum up most of my dreams." Luna said with a cheeky grin. "No matter how many Grimm keep coming at me, I always bash them away with one fist after

the other! I even toppled a giant Grimm the size of a skyscraper in one of them."

"Same here dudet" responded Yang sporting a similar grin

"How about you Weiss?" Ruby wondered. "Had any dreams related to the Grimm?"

"Aside from a nightmare or two from when I was little? No. Most of my dreams usually involve nothing more than studying for my future." She stated as she continued to file her nails.

"Eesh, even in your dreams you can't catch a break..." Yang commented, feeling a little sorry for the workaholic Schnee.

"Well that's boring..." Ruby muttered before turning her attention to the other blonde member.

"How about you Jaune? You ever beat up any Grimm in your dreams?"

"...Jaune?"

Jaune barely paid attention as he went over his scroll, observing the aura levels between him and Cardin like the teacher instructed. If there was one thing that annoyed him more than losing to Cardin, it was how much he failed to prove himself on a daily basis. Time after time, out of the many fighters within Beacon, he was the only one, to himself at least, that had yet to improve in combat.

Compared to the many students he saw each and every day, he was little more than a trainee at this current level compared to the initiate level many of the students now found themselves at. And he still wasn't as strong as everyone when they started the Initiations for that matter!

What's worse, how was he supposed to prove himself to Weiss of all people!? He knew it, they knew it, and he didn't care if they were being quiet about it out of manners or politeness. He was the weakest member of their team and the one constantly dragging them down. While he might've had a B- average on most of his studies, anything related to his physical prowess proved flawed. Even though Yang was physically stronger than her Team's leader, Weiss still proved herself far above in almost every field of study, and her runes gave her a great edge over battle.

And don't get him started on Luna, the ridiculous girl of the group. She proved herself more invaluable ten times over to Jaune himself! She was fast, able to react in a split second to any sense of danger, knew the best way to exploit an opponents weakness, She had years of work and talent ahead of him despite the fact her weapons were only a bit more than impressive, and he was still a valuable asset to her team.

"Jaune?" Pyrrha spoke from his left, catching his attention.

"Huh? Yeah?" He blinked in confusion at the numerous eyes looking for an answer from him, only now realizing they asked him something.

"Are you okay?"

"What? Oh, yeah! I'm fine, I'm good..." The expression on his face told the others differently.

"Are you sure? You just seem a little..." Ruby trailed off as she waved her hands a little.

""Not okay" Luna finished

"Eh, guys I'm fine... Seriously, look! Hahaha...haaaaa..." No about of forced laughter would convince them. They all knew of his troubles, they all knew of his issues with fighting, and they definitely knew how much bullying he suffered on a daily basis.

Before any of them could question further on his troubles, they were all caught by the sound of laughter at the next table over. To none of their surprise, there was the infamous Cardin, once again picking on another fellow student, and one of the first people Luna met since coming here, Velvet Scarlatina. If he was picking on her for another reason, that would've been nothing short of a miracle. Like he did for the numerous other people he picked on, he wasn't picking on her for the usual reasons like when he picks on Jaune, he only did it because she was a simple Faunus.

Racism and bullying at it's core, just like every other Hunter.

"Jaune, Cardin's has been picking on you since the first week of school." Pyrrha was among the many to know about it.

"W-Who, Cardin Winchester? Naaah, he just likes to mess around, you know? Practical jokes!" Jaune chuckled again with less enthusiasm than before.

"He's a bully." Ruby stated firmly, looking over to the table once more.

"Oh please... Name one time he's ever "bullied" me?" That was a challenge he shouldn't have given.

"Well, there's the numerous times he keeps knocking stuff out of your hands in the hallways."

"Then the times he got you jammed in the doorway with your shield." Blake added as she continued eating her Tuna.

"That time I caught you doing one of his homework assignments." Ren chipped in.

"W-What? No, that wasn't anything, he was just...busy... and all." Jaune tried to convince.

"And there was that time he shoved you into a locker and blasted you off to the sky." Nora had a fond memory of what she assumed was a shooting star that day, which sadly resulted in nothing more than a bullied student stuffed inside his locker. In all fairness, it probably didn't help it was still daytime too.

"At least twice so far he's tried to push down the stairs, too." Phyrra said finishing her meal. "You could die easily from that you know."

"O-Oh c'mon guys, he's just goofing, honest..." It was hard to tell if Jaune was coming to terms and realizing the truth of the matter. He could say it as many times as he wanted to but it wouldn't be long till he had to admit it himself. Cardin was bullying him, end of story. "Besides, my aura protects me."

"Jaune, if you ever need help, you can tell us." Pyrrha reminded, trying to comfort him. "We're all friends here."

"Ooh! We'll break his legs!" Nora pumped with excitement. "Let's see him bully people around when he's stuck in a wheelchair!"

"Nora, that's terrible." Ruby shook her head. Any sort of respect or agreement towards her was quickly dashed as she continued, "If we broke his legs, he could still throw things at people and move around too easily. I say we break his arms!" Blake nearly choked on her drink as she coughed, surprised by the statement. While she was more surprised on a slightly disturbed level, Yang was more on a rather impressed level, admitting how Ruby had a point while she probably wouldn't have gone that far herself.

"Ooh! Even better!"

"Guys, guys, guys!" Jaune shook his hands quickly with worry. "Seriously, you don't have to do that, I'm fine."

Many of his friends looked to one another, Weiss included while she tried not to show it. This was one of those tragic case scenarios where the person being bullied was under the impression the person bullying them wasn't really bullying them, all while the bully continued to take advantage of their weakness and did whatever they saw fit for however long they wanted to. It was worse in this case because in these types of cases, the bullied wouldn't report anything they did to them no matter how bad or troubling it got.

"Ahh! Cut it out, that hurts!" A voice cried out, catching the groups attention once again. As if to prove his point, there was Cardin and the rest of his team again, this time actually pulling on the ears of the bunny girl like Ruby saw them doing before. Only difference now was, aside from the lack of staff, they were doing it in a public area like this and no one was doing anything about it. "Please stop..."

"Hahaha!" Cardin and his goons continued to chuckle, two of them pulling an ear each at different angles."I told you they were real!"

"What a freak!" Russel chuckled.

"Grrrr ahhh enough of this..." Luna moaned getting up walking toward Cardin. It wasn't enough for him to be picking on one of her friends, it was how they were doing it somewhere in the open and nobody bothered to do anything about it! This is why Hunters were scum of the earth, they only helped when someone didn't know them to earn respect, they didn't care if someone they knew was in trouble unless it resulted in praise, glory, and rewards.

Once Luna reached Cardin she placed her hand on his shoulder gripping tightly not enough to crush but enough to not be shacken off

"Hey there mister numnuts what ya doin here"

Cardin let go of Velvets ears turning his head to look at Luna "look at that the stupid cat wants some to" if smug could be personified Cardin would be that personification.

Letting go of his shoulder allowing him to fully face her she spoke "oh I just couldn't help but see you bullying a friend of mine, so I came over to solve that problem"

"And what problem would that be you stupid ca….."

Before Cardin could finish his sentence he found his throat being grabbed by Luna right hand and her left hand coated in flames inches away from him.

"The problem is YOU!!, I don't care who you think you are I catch you being racist or just bullying someone in general, you will personally get to know how hot my flames are" as Luna through Cardin to the ground "do I make myself clear"

All she got for a response was panicked nodding as Cardin skurrid away, Luna looked toward his crew "get moving" they did So following there leader out of the cafeteria

Luna cut of her glare and looked toward Velvet "sorry about that, I don't like showing my anger side"

"It's alright, thank you for dealing with them by the way"

"its nothing, it was the best thing i could do to help a fellow faunus and friend in trouble…no one should be treated like that just because of their race".

"indeed, i wish there was more people like you Luna"

"there are more than you think so dont worry about it Velvet, also would you like to sit with us?.

"Are you sure?..i dont wanna be a burden or anything like that".

"pfff you wont be, there is no problem in meeting new people".

"a-alright, if you say s-so them lets go".

"Yes! Yes, prior to the Faunus Rights Revolution, more popularly known as the Faunus War, humankind was quite, adamant about centralizing Faunus population to Menagerie." Oobleck explained as he went into many a great detail about the events.

The classroom was a magical place in any given environment. Within it you could find one of three different races in it; the people who struggled to stay away to falling asleep, the people who continued to follow along and be whisked away in wonder in what they were learning, and the people who were bored out of their mind and doodling in their notebooks or trying to find something to preoccupy their minds. Jaune himself actually fell into the first category of people, quietly snoring to himself as he slouched on his desk in one of the front rows.

At first Luna was excited about her classes up to this point. School was a new and unique experience for the sheltered child. There were plenty of people for her to meet, new and surprising faces, the classes themselves seemed different enough yet similar to those studies she had when she was tutored by a personal tutor and then by Watts later in life, and there were surprisingly some fun classes too! Of the many, Professor oh sorry Doctor Oobleck's had to be one of her favorites, mostly because it made her feel like a genius above the rest since she knew so much about history (thanks to Watts).

She wished this came before Professor Ports but by the laws of the timetable she was resigned to live through his class first. Doctor Oobleck. Historian, teacher, architect, coffee addict, ahh Luna loved him.

"While this might feel like ancient history to you" it is imperative to remember that these are relatively recent events! Why the repercussions of the uprising can still be seen to this day!" He paused for a full second to take another sip. "Now! Have any among you been subjugated or discriminated because of your Faunus heritage?"

It was at that time Blake felt a little guilty as she watched Velvet slowly and nervously raise her hand along with Luna. She hated what she had to do with herself, hiding her own Faunus heritage from the rest of the academy despite how many other Faunus were showing theirs off with pride. She wasn't ashamed of her heritage, far from it! She just didn't want to have to deal with the constant harassment she's seen other Faunus' suffer from bullying and subjugation.

Yet here was Luna and Velvet, announcing there own problems before the class, feeling a little embarrassed. They were constantly picked on, and knowing the more unsavory people in this classroom, aka Cardin, they were going to get harassed even more from it, and they still held up her hand honorably.

She definitely owed her an apology at some point.

"Dreadful," Oobleck commented shaking his head, "simply dreadful! Remember, students, this kind of ignorance breeds violence! I mean, just look at what happened to White Fang! Now, which one of you young scholars can tell me what many theorists believe to be the turning point in the third year of the war? ...Yes?" He questioned to the Schnee who raised her hand.

"The battle at Fort Castle!" Weiss answered.

"Precisely! And, who can tell me the advantage the Faunus had over General Lagune's Forces?"

It's been awhile. It's been awhile since Cardin found a way to amuse himself during this dull class. The teacher talked his ear off, the assignments were boring, and there wasn't anyone to harass as long as the teacher kept teaching.

Except for one certain blonde Jaune snoozing in front of him. Taking a quick double take to make sure his coast was clear, he fiddled with a piece of paper into a paper football before flinging it straight at the back of Jaune's head.

"Hey!" Jaune yelped startled, trying to scratch away whatever irritated his head just now. Unfortunately for him, the teacher took that as a sign, just as Cardin had anticipated.

"Mr. Arc! Finally contributing to class! This is excellent! Excellent! What is the answer?" The teacher's expectancy gave Jaune little time to process what just happened. All he did know at that moment was that he owed his thanks to Cardin for getting him into future trouble.

"Uhhh... The Answer..." He glanced around the room trying to think. Luckily he was at the edge of the row of seats, so he plenty of space to look around for some possible clue. "The advantage... of the Faunus... had over that guy's stuff..."

She couldn't just let him do this alone, Pyrrha wanted to help Jaune with everything, especially if Cardin was the root cause of his dilemma. Doing her best, she made silent gestures around her eyes to the young Arc, doing her best to word out the answers without giving away her hints to the other students, save for Blake, who didn't mind, right next to her. It was at her last gesture that Jaune finally came up with the answer!

"B-Binoculars!" Sadly no matter how proudly he answered, it wouldn't change the fact it was wrong. Jaune never would've realized this so soon if it wasn't for the laughter from dozens of his fellow classmates, Cardin getting the most kick out of it since he started this.

Sighing to himself, Oobleck cooled any temper he would've had with another sip of his warm coffee, all while Pyrrha moaned to herself at Jaune's failed guess. "Very funny, Mr. Arc." The teacher muttered returning to his desk. There was some fairness to this ordeal as Oobleck suddenly noticed Cardin cracking up over the situation, practically volunteering to answer to him. "Cardin," he spoke up, grabbing his attention, "perhaps you would care to share your thoughts on the subject?"

The bully was only slightly caught off guard, leaning in his chair without a care in the world. He didn't care much for classes or history so he just threw out the first thought that came to mind. "Well, I know it's easier to train an animal than a soldier."

Unbelievable. In just a few short seconds he broke the record for how quick someone can respond to show his disinterest in a classroom and insult hundreds of people at the exact same time. Pyrrha scoffed as she shook her head at him.

"You're not the most open-minded of individuals, are you, Cardin?" She replied, greatly insulting his pride.

"What? You got a problem?"

"No, I have the answer!"

Oh snapadoodle.

"It's night vision. Many Faunus are known to have nearly-perfect sight in the dark." Cardin could only grumble to himself as the warrior continued insulting his ineptitude without actually saying anything direct.

"General Lagune was inexperienced and made the mistake of trying to ambush the Faunus in their sleep." Blake added. "His massive army was outmatched, and the General was captured." She turned her attention to Cardin with a small grin. "Perhaps if he'd paid better attention in class, he wouldn't have been remembered as such a failure.

"Grrrr!" Cardin growled as he squeezed his fist, slowly rising out of his chair.

"Mr. Windchester, please take your seat!" Oobleck instructed, preventing what could've been a fight breaking out. His focus wasn't distracted enough to ignore the small chuckling coming from Jaune ahead of him, quickly zipping in front of his desk immediately after. "You and Mr. Arc can both see me after class for additional readings."

"Crap..." He knew he should've kept his mouth shut.

With the rallying bell, the students began to exit the classroom one after the other. If there were a few sounds in the world children loved to hear, it was the sound of a bell going off to tell them that classes were over. Nobody hesitated exiting the classroom with satisfaction, save for Jaune and Cardin who had to remain behind for whatever "readings" Oobleck had in store for them.

Even with this, Pyrrha couldn't bring herself to leave Jaune behind, Blake looking back at her as they left, noticing her pause.

"You can go on ahead, Blake. I'll wait for Jaune." The incognito Faunus smiled with a nod as she continued onward. Classes were over for the day for most students. Now, aside from whatever time they required to get their assignments done, they had the rest of the evening to do as they pleased.

Meanwhile, the teacher continued his lecture with the remaining two students.

"You two have been struggling in my class since day one! Now, I don't know if it's a lack of interest or your stubborn nature, but whatever it is," he paused for another sip, "it stops now!"

It was troubling when a student didn't seem the least bit interested in anything he taught. He found it to be one of the most important teachings of the entire world! You can teach your science mumbo-jumbo and your lessons on how to deal with Grimm, but history is what leads people to the future, preventing them from making mistakes of the past!

"You've worked hard to gain entrance into this school, and we only accept the best of the best! So, I expect you to act like it! History is important gentlemen. If you can't learn from it... you're destined to repeat it. Pages 51 to 91! I want an essay on my desk by next class. Now, run along." He waved off, allowing the tortured souls to finally leave.

They weren't fast enough to out-walk him, the teacher passing by them in seconds with the power of caffeine coursing through this his veins. It's a rather unfortunate outcome too since mere seconds after passing the two students, he failed to watch how Cardin casually shoved Jaune to the floor before Pyrrha, the bully outrage that a dweeb such as him got him into trouble and extra homework. And like every bully in the world, he didn't stop to wait around and watch Pyrrha get him up.

"Ugh..." Jaune groaned, rubbing his thigh trying to ease his soreness.

"You know, I really will break his arms." Pyrrha said, half jokingly and half serious. All she needed was for his approval. The sigh he returned only worried her more.

Jaune was a good friend, and a good person. Different teams or not, he was still a person being bullied by an incredible jerk. Cardin picked on Jaune at every opportunity, for no reason other than being stronger than Jaune. He prided himself on everything he did, and only grew more prideful with each person who suffered within his reach. He practically saw himself as the king of this castle, the king of Beacon if anything.

They were exactly the kind of people Pyrrha and others hated. Why did they pick on people anyway? That wasn't going to get him any fans, it was just going to make people hate him more. Given Cardin's character, there was little doubt it had anything to do with some form of tragic backstory, not that it would matter at this point.

It was entirely pointless, just like all bullies were. They did nothing more than pick on people, and unless their goal was to get their lunch money or boss them around, there was little reward on their end. They simply spread suffering for the sake of spreading suffering, and didn't care who knew it.

It was only then that Pyrrha thought up an idea, smiling as it came to her. "I have an idea. Here, come with me!" That was less of a request and more of an order on her part as she grabbed Jaune's wrist and ran down the hallways with him.

"Ack-!"

As they entered one of the many spacious rooftops, the sky came into view. The night sky was a glorious thing to behold at times, seeing it so peaceful and beautiful with it's many bright lights. People could often come out to these wonders at night and just let out all of their tension at once as they relaxed.

Not to mention the view of the surroundings themselves. Night lights were glaring on the dark pavements as small chirps of crickets could be heard all over the place. There was a strange, unique, sound in the air as all these sounds mixed with the majestic wind, blowing past gently against the students. It was the perfect temperature for any outdoor activity, whether day or night. And it was the perfect time of the day to just let all those problems come out.

Which is what worried Jaune as they neared the edge of the roof.

"Pyrrha, I know I'm going through a hard time right now, but I'm not..." He gulped a little as he looked over the ledge. "I'm not THAT depressed. I mean I can always be a farmer or something..."

"Wha- No!" She quickly yelped, pushing him away from the edge before he got anymore wrong ideas. "That's not why I brought you up here!" That was one of things Pyrrha admired about Jaune, his innocence. Whether he was joking or being serious at the time of the comment, she still found it funny and a little cute.

Above the entrance say Luna listening in "exactly Jaune, we ain't here for your emotional support or any sappy stuff like that"

"Ahhh!!!, Luna how long have you been there" yelped Jaune in a panick

"Long enough"

"Look, Jaune, I know you're having a difficult time in class, and you're not one of the strongest of fighters, so..." With her head down, Jaune couldn't see the small semi-transparent blush briefly flashing on her face. "I want to help you!"

"W-What?" He was completely baffled by the words. Unlike Pyrrha, he found it rather surprising and confusing that her and someone from a different team would want to help him. Actually now that he thought about it, it was surprising to him that anyone would want to help him out with his troubles. Yang was helpful with the occasional pep talk, and Weiss did somewhat lend him her notes, but she was against trying to teach him things directly in the hopes he would eventually start paying attention on his own.

So to find anyone else willing to directly say they would help him was rather shocking!

"We can train up here after class where no one can bother us!" Pyrrha explained.

"You... think I need help..." She was only aware of how that made it sound after Jaune said it.

"N-No, that's not what I meant."

"But you just said it."

"Look, Jaune, everyone needs a little push from time to time. There's no reason to feel ashamed about it. It doesn't make you the least bit different than the rest of us." She said, trying to comfort him. There were plenty of good things about Jaune, even if he didn't see it himself.

"Exactly, Jaune do you think we all were just born like this, No we weren't we trained for years"

"What makes you want to help me anyway?" He muttered, looking over the edge again. "We're not even on the same team Luna, so why do you care? And Phyrra I'm your leader how can I be a good one if I keep asking you for help" Once again, with his back turned, he failed to notice the brief redness that flashed over Pyrrha's face.

"W-Well that-! I mean... B-Because we're friends, of course!" She answered.

"But why even bother with me?" Jaune asked again. "What makes you think I can even do anything?"

"What do you mean?" She questioned his words. "You made it to Beacon Jaune, that speaks volumes of what you can do!"

Like the last several times, all he could reply with was a small sigh as he turned away. "You're wrong... I... I don't belong here..."

"That's a terrible thing to say, Jaune. Of course you do!"

"No, I don't!" He snapped back, surprising her. He waited for a short moment as he tried to calm down again, the look on her face telling him how badly he reacted. "I wasn't really accepted into Beacon."

"Wh-What do you mean?" For the first time since the conversation started she found herself mixed with confusion worry.

"I mean, I didn't go to any combat school, I didn't pass any tests! I didn't earn my spot at this academy!" He revealed. Each word surprised Pyrrha more than the last, but no more than the entirety of the reveal itself. "I lied. I just got my hands on some fake transcripts and I lied."

"What? But why?" This couldn't be right. Jaune? The seemingly all around normal kid actually went behind everyone's back and did something as illegal and faking his transcripts? She could expect something like that from Cardin of all people, never Jaune.

Luna had been listening to Jaune admit to his sins "I suspected as much"

"What?, How"

"You'd be surprised how easy you are to read Jaune but I only got one question"

"Why?, Why did you do it?"

"'Cause, this is what I always wanted to be! My father, my grandfather, and his father before him were all warriors! They were all heroes! I wanted to be one too... I was just never good enough."

They knew it. They knew there were a good reason behind all this. Jaune was a selfless, caring person, so it all added up with what he did. It didn't necessarily mean he could be forgiven for doing something so illegal, but coming from Jaune it was sweet to see him do it for a reason that was noble, like honoring his ancestors and family line.

With a small smile, Phyrra gently laid her hand on his shoulder "But Jaune, you can be a great warrior, you can be like your whole family!" She tried to encourage. "I can help you, we can train every day up here, we-"

"I don't want help!" He yelled. "I don't want to be the damsel in distress! I want to be the hero!"

"But Jaune-"

"I don't want to be the loveable idiot, the goof off who gets thrown through the air by a Deathstalker, the idiot who gets stuck in a tree while his friends fight for their lives! Don't you get it!? If I can't do this on my own... then what good am I?"

"But-"

"But nothing!

"I don't want your help!!, Ether of you!!, So just leave me alone" Jaune yelled this at Phyrra and Luna never turning to face them.

"..." She could only look away slightly as she frowned, this time being the one unaware of the facial expression growing on Jaune's regretful face. "I... I see...Well then, if that's what you think is best, I apologize for troubling you. I hope you have a good night."

By the time Jaune could regain any sense of his body, it was already too late to reach out for her. For the next few moments he could only stare off in the direction Pyrrha left, realizing everything he just said, and finally grumbling to himself as she scratched his head.

As soon as the door closed Luna hoped down looking at Jaune with a deadpan expression

"You done goofed up Jauney boy" and Luna followed Phyrra our the door

Great. Just great. Not only did he piss off an incredibly friendly person, not only did he reject help from someone offering their assistance to his problems, not only did he make himself look like the biggest jerk of the century, he told off someone in the absolute worst way imaginable with all those details combined! He'd be lucky if she didn't tell the rest of the team about this and watch as the rumors spread around the entire school within a few short hours! At this point, he would've been shocked if no one was there to beat him up the next day.

And why wouldn't they? He was a jerk! Even he could see that, repeating every flippant thing he just said inside his head on a continuous loop. It was just so frustrating! He wanted to be a great warrior, he wanted to be like his family and make everyone proud! So here he was, not just doing the complete opposite, but making himself out to be the dumbest jerk whoever lived.

Saying sorry wasn't going to cut it at this point. On the very unlikely chance she forgave him, it wouldn't take back anything he just said. Aside from pushing away any help she was trying to offer, he just insisted that she was being a nuisance and bothering him for the last several minutes.

And just when he thought this was the worst point of his life, this happened.

"Oh Jaune..." Every fiber of his being prayed he was imagining thing when he heard it. It wouldn't be. It couldn't be.

"Cardin!?" Jaune gasped. Sure enough, there he was, climbing up from the ledge of building and walking casually over. "W-What are you doing here?"

"I couldn't help but overhear you three from my dorm room." He replied, grinning. A grinning bully was every person's worst nightmare, worse than an angry one. "So, you snuck into Beacon, huh? I got to say Jaune, I never expected you to be such a rebel."

"Please! Cardin, please don't tell anyone!" Jaune begged as he panicked.

"Jaune! Come on! I would never rat out a friend like that!" He replied walking over. That was mong the last of responses he expect from Cardin when it involved Jaune himself.

"A-A friend?" He repeated questionably. He nearly yelped as he found Cardin putting him in a one-armed headlock, tightly squeezing him around the head.

"Of course! We're friends now, Jauney boy. And the way I see it, as long as you're there for me when I need you, we'll be friends for a long time." Blackmail. The one simple word that sent shivers down anyone's spine was blackmail. Cardin knew his secret, and Jaune was only too horrified to realize he now had absolute control over him. "That being said... I really don't have time to do all those extra readings Dr. Oobleck gave us today. I think you'll do just fine pulling both of ours at once, eh Jauney boy?" His request was more along the lines of an order as he released Jaune from his headlock, dropping him to the ground.

"Mmh..." It wasn't like he could say no at this point, grumbling silently to himself in his mind. "Fine, I'll do your homework for you."

Unbeknownst to Cardin and Jaune Luna had been listening to there conversation and upon hearing Jaune just submit to Cardin's blackmail she left feeling disappointed in Jaune

"Just like a huntsman, weak and afraid as soon as a disadvantage is presented to them" Luna thought as she walked down the hall.

"Oh, no, no, no, Jauney." He continued, waving his hands and head. "It doesn't just end there.

There's gonna be a lot of interesting things I need you to do."

"Like what?"

"Oh, I'm so glad you asked." Jaune cursed to himself for his big mouth. "While you're at it, I need you to look into something for me, involving a certain girl from that other team you hang out with."

"Look, whatever you have against Pyrrha wait the other team?"

"Yes Jauney, I could care less about your team, for now anyway." Jaune was rather surprised by the statement, his hope and relief slowly dwindling away with what he had to say next. "I need you to do something about a certain Luna Fall."

"Mmh... come on..." Luna mumbled to herself.

She was proud of herself. She was proud of the family she came from. They entrusted her with all their hope to take upon this mission and see to it that she discover and possibly destroy the evil laboratory. She never felt so happy to feel needed by the people she's trained with, everybody she grew up alongside, to finally be needed by them instead of the other way around.

It was wonderful! She could finally work towards becoming the true hero she was always meant to be, the people they needed her to be right now. Once she proved herself to the rest of them, she'd be greeted with open arms and praise from her allies, all congratulating her on finishing the job she set out to do months ago with her mother the first time.

She just wished it wasn't so annoying! At this point, she was forced to contend with the library. After her many weeks of scavenging and exploring the school herself and not finding any hint towards the labs whereabouts, the only alternative she came to was checking up the library itself. While it might've been a long shot, she needed to find something about this place, Beacon Academy, that could point her into the right direction, or give her some clue to where the lab could be.

At first she thought it would be a simple task to accomplish, thanks to the fact there were at least twelve different books she found about the creation and construction of this place. They were all very large too so the chances of her finding anything was fantastic! With this done, she could discover any secrets to the school, find the labs location, and finish her task and be home within a week's time, a month at most!

It wasn't until she opened the first book before her that she came to regret her optimism. There she was, staring down a hardcover five-hundred page book about the origins and history of this school, with the world's smallest of writing! There might've been thousands of words on every single page given how minimal the writing was. Mixed that together with the near five-hundred pages of this book, being the first out of a dozen she had to contend with, and this was turning into a complete nightmare!

Don't even get her started on her homework either. Of course there was tons of homework to do, why wouldn't there be? She had maybe five assignments given to her each day, about fourteen in total every week. The assignments weren't hard either, thanks to her friends giving her hand here and there, and not everything was boring like the lectures and Grimm-based studies Port gave her. She just wished she could keep better track of everything within the pages and everything related to her mission here. Half the time she read one book she realized she was reading the wrong one!

AND SHE WAS ONLY ON THE THIRD PAGE OF THIS STUPID BOOK FOR GOD SAKE-!

"Hey Luna."

"Ack-!" Luna nearly jumped as Jaune greeted her. He was just as startled by her response, figuring someone like Luna wasn't scared of anything so easily. "Oh, phew, Jaune, hey." She breathed a sigh of relief. For a grand millisecond, she thought everything about her true purpose at this school was being discovered. That's how deeply in thought she was by the time Jaune greeted her. "What's up man? Ya mend your issues with Phyrra yet?" Her answer came in the form of a small frown on his face, looking away from her.

"Eh... not really..." He mumbled just loud enough for her to hear. It was as he sat down that she noticed the two cups he was currently holding, setting them down before him. She had a feeling one of them were for her, she just waited patiently with the proper manners taught to her by her grandmother. Not to mention the questionable look on his face which concerned her. "It's... gonna be hard."

"Yeah?" She blinked curiously. "I guess you did mess up pretty bad"

"Well yeah, it's just..." He paused briefly with a sigh failing to find an excuse. "I screwed things up."

"Yeah? So I guess you want some advice?"

"Yeah?, something like that!" He exclaimed, earning a small chuckle from the faunes girl.

"Heh, Well I ain't the best person for that ya know." Despite her attempts at brightening the situation, she started to frown in turn as Jaune's expression stayed the same. "Jaune... is everything okay?"

"No, I... I really messed up..." He mumbled.

The only thing he didn't tell her about was the reason for the argument, everything related to his false transcripts. There was no way he could reveal the secret behind the argument no matter how badly he wanted it fixed.

Finally, taking a minute to pretend process everything in considering she already knew, she finally left with him some words of encouragement.

"Wow... You're an idiot".

Ok well maybe not despair but close enough.

"Ugh, tell me about it." Jaune groaned.

"No I mean really, you're being stupid right now." She repeated, closing her book as she leaned on her arm. His ears perked up a bit while he turned his head a little. "You went and snapped at someone trying to help you and now you regret it. That's fine. But if you really are sorry about it, you should just tell her the truth then, don't keep it bottled up so much." To his surprise, a small personal frown grew on her own face as she looked away. "You'd be surprise how much worse you can hurt someone by keeping things bottled in."

"I'm not keeping things bottled up, I just... I just don't know what to say..."

It's not like she didn't know where he was coming from. If she said anything like that or did what he did to someone she cared about, she'd be in a mess about making things right too. Add the fact that this involved someone from his own team. Anything he said or did would reflect on his team, just like how whatever Pyrrha did after today would reflect her team also.

"Well... I really can't say much other than just apologize to her." Luna replied. "Let her know you're sorry and you didn't mean it. That's what good people do, Jaune."

"But I'm not a good person Luna, I'm... I'm just a screw up." He sighed.

"...Nah."

"Huh?" He was caught off guard by her response.

"Nah. You're not a screw up, Jaune. You're a hunter." She stated with a smile. "You don't get to be a screw up anymore, your a leader now you have a team."

"Hmph, says you. You have a decent Leader, Luna, I'm just the screw up leading mine."

"So?" She shrugged. " It doesn't matter how skilled Ruby is with stuff or what strengths she has but if I have to carry the entire team on my shoulders, then as a member I'm doing something wrong. And even if I wasn't, that still wouldn't change things. A single person can change the whole team for better or worse Jaune. That's why we can't afford to be screw ups anymore. WE can only be who our friends need us to be."

...Wow...

He never thought she would get to a valid point but wow. The hyperactive girl only third to Nora and Ruby actually brought up a decent, well-made point. It's not like he didn't think she was incapable of doing anything like that. He just didn't think it would be something as deep as that given her past tales she told him about.

The lies she displayed, at least.

Still, as helpful as that was he could only frown. No amount of comfort would prepare him for what he had to do next. "Yeah, well... I don't know..." He mumbled again.

"Just sleep on it tonight and apologize by morning. Consider it council women orders." She said with a small fist nudge. Jaune was aware of her eyeballing the drinkings in his hand, becoming harder and harder for what he had to do soon. As for Luna herself, she slowly rubbed her fingers with anticipation, finding it harder and harder to resist asking for the great-smelling drinks. Maybe it would still count as polite if she hinted to them? "So... about those drinks there..."

"Huh? Oh, yeah, that..." He paused looking into the mug in his right hand, seeing his reflection staring back at him. He always wanted to be a hunter, and went through great lengths to get here.

There was no way he could screw that up now. "Yeah..." There was no going back now. He handed her the mug in his right. "Here you go, hope you like it." With a simple swipe, his fate was sealed.

Luna happily drank the contents of the sweet-smelling drink. It had a strange aroma of cocoa to it mixed with honey, both of which were a delicious combination! As she continued to drink it though, she couldn't help but make a face as a small irritation began tickling the back of her throat. "Hack-ough!" She coughed, rubbing her throat a little. "It tastes kinda funny..."

"Sorry, it's a... different recipe I was trying." He apologized, slowly rising his chair shamefully as he gulped down the contents of the other drink. "Anyway, I better be on my way. Thanks for the pep talk, Luna." She gave him a simple smile as she waved back, coughing again a few seconds after.

"Yeah, I'll be taking off shortly too. Yang and I are gonna make some," Luna paused briefly as she let out another strange cough, "make some cookies for Ruby tonight. Have a goodnight!" She smiled with another wave of her hand as he left, returning to her reading once more.

That was it. He sealed both their fates. Everything that happened from here on out was going to be on him, and he had no one to blame but himself for it. He could've said no at any point, could've refused to give her the drink, but he couldn't. He couldn't do anything by himself anymore.

"I'm such a coward..."

"And a darn good friend, Jauney." Cardin spoke up, catching him by surprise again as he saw him leaning against the outer entrance of the library.

"C-Cardin? Wh-What are you-"

"Just making sure you followed through, Jauney boy." Cardin interrupted with a smug grin, peeking over into the room. His grin only widened as he saw Luna cough again to herself holding her throat lightly, seeing his plans falling through to effect. "I gotta hand it to ya Jaune, you really do pull through when you're needed. I didn't think you had it in you."

"Yeah well... You promise it's not going to hurt her or anything, right?" Jaune asked worriedly. He didn't care how blackmailed he was, the last he wanted to find out was that a student died because of him!

Actually any student would've had the same thought...

"Well I don't know Jauney the effects on humans and animals can differ after all!" He replied, never removing his smug grin as he patted Jaune's shoulder. "All I know for sure is it's going to do is make tomorrow's exam very...interesting..."


	13. Chapter 13

"Achoo!" Jaune sneezed into his arm, covering his runny nose as it attracted some views of his nearby friends.

"Eesh, you okay?" Nora wondered, checking in case it was contagious.

"Yeah, I'm fine," he replied in a slightly muffled tone, "just a bit of a runny nose this morning."

"I suggested you to get some rest this morning, you don't want to spread it around do you?." Ren asked.

"I'm sure he can handle anything he wants to on his own." Pyrrha commented, having absolutely no tone or care to even look at him as she spoke.

Out of the numerous comments, hers probably struck the worst despite having little to no emotion to it. Given what happened yesterday, with Jaune's rather abrupt and harsh comment about wanting her to stop bothering him with his struggles, it was little surprise to him that she was still angry over it. Compared to most other people who would've possibly lashed out in return to his comment, she simply accepted it and left him to his own matters, leaving just moments before Cardin made his presence known from the dorm they were atop of.

That's when Jaune's day went from worse to bottomless. Before the argument, Jaune had confessed to Pyrrha and accidentally Luna about how he illegally gained entry into this prestigious academy of Beacon, the place where only the best of the best were accepted. Regardless of how he gained entry, Pyrrha and Luna tried to encourage him and offered to help him with his problems, most notably his bullying with Cardin and his lack of skills when it came to the many different fields of study the students were being taught, only to be brushed away by Jaune's frustrations getting the better of him, all the while two of the three were completely unaware of Cardin being present below them.

Immediately following Pyrrha's and Luna's absence Cardin made his presence known, and his discovery about Jaune's illegal entry. Like any good person like Cardin, he made an offer that Jaune was to afraid of refusing: be his guinea pig and servant, taking care of his various tasks like doing his homework and such, or have Cardin tell Glynda, about it and result in him getting expelled. That was his one and only ultimatum.

And being his servant was the best option compared to what he had Jaune do next.

Following the little ordeal, he was tasked with doing something to the other team Jaune hung out with, Luna Fall. All he simply had to do was offer her a drink that Cardin slipped something into and be on his way, making sure to have another drink himself so as to not arouse suspicion. And to ensure he followed through, not knowing it until he left the hooded girl in the library, Cardin spied on the two until the ordeal was over.

That was when Jaune realized he truly was nothing more than a coward, his heart aching with every beat along with a raincloud of guilt pouring over his head since the other day. Luna was a rather whacky student, to say the least. Everything seemed so new to her, she had a rather bizarre backstory with being the child of shady buisness people, as well as being secluded from the world most of her life, being stuck at home most of the time.

But the one thing she was that hurt Jaune the most was, She was a nice and sincere girl who did her best around the school, in front of her friends at least. She always wanted to do what was right, she always stuck out for people when they needed it, and she wasn't afraid of making a scene and standing up to someone like Cardin when he was picking on other students, especially her fellow Faunus like Velvet. There was no reason to poison her, nothing to justify his reason for doing this, there wasn't any karma Luna had hanging over her that made her earn this. She was just an ordinary student of Beacon academy, training every day to be a hero like she's always wanted to be, and the only person who was a constant nuisance to Cardin himself.

So it was no surprise Cardin picked her out out of the many students he could've gotten back at. Granted, it wasn't like everyone else was safe from his wrath, he still owed a good deal of payback to others like Pyrrha and Blake who humiliated him in class the other day. Out of the several though, Luna was the only one to have the gall to threaten him when he was pulling on Velvet's ears. That humiliation added to how he was forced to back down when he was nearly scared shitless his pride would never let down.

Which is what worried and troubled Jaune the most. Not only did he have to deal with being blackmailed by Cardin for possibly the rest of his life, he had absolutely no idea what was laced inside the drinks he shared with Luna. It could've been poison, it could've been some deadly strain of virus, a whole number of things. Only to make matters worse, he had yet to see Luna all day since the Library yesterday. Granted a great deal of that had to do with how the room was verily dark, since the spotlights were positioned over the center stage for another sparring exam, but that did little to ease his worries.

It was only now that he realized another reason why Cardin wanted to sabotage Luna today of all days, the sight of Glynda Goodwitch walking on stage with her scroll in hand.

"Today's exam will be another sparring match between several students." She announced, typing into her scroll as the two screens above the stage came to life. There was a large enough space for a student's image and the bar representing their remaining aura. "The first set of matches will begin immediately. First up, Cardin Winchester." Within the large spotlight of the small arena, Cardin walked into view, the casual smug grin on his face as he prepared for his opponent. Surprisingly, there was a large array of applause and cheer for him. It was hard to say how many of them were from people unaware of who he truly was, simply didn't care and were just being respectful, or those who were bullied and feared him who did it in the hopes of them not getting picked on for it after.

Needless to say, there was no applause emanating from the small group that consisted of Team JNPR and Team RSYBL clustered together. All with the exception of one particular student.

"Luna Fall." Glynda spoke again, the crowd cheering casually as they did Cardin, this time with the addition of several members from both of the two teams. Even Weiss was sincere enough to give a small clap of encouragement as they waited for Luna to appear.

And waited.

And waited...

And waited...

And wai-

"Luna Fall," Glynda announced again as the crowd began to silence, "please report to the stage for your exam."

With what light the students were gifted with thanks to the spotlight, the teams looked amongst themselves as they noticed the absence of a tiger faunes girl. Their faces and looks of worry were only pitiful compared to the panic and worry that overwhelmed Jaune's mind.

"Hey, where is she?" Nora asked over to Ruby.

"Mmh, she said she needed a few minutes this morning, she said she had a minor headache." The cloaked girl stated, growing worried as the absence of their teammate.

"She was kind of out of breath this morning too when she woke up." Blake added.

"Was she sick?" Phyrra asked, earning a shrug from the warrior.

"She did seem a bit out of it, but she practically ordered us to go on ahead and she'd be right behind us in a few minutes."

This just filled Jaune's overflowing mind with more and more worry, as well as confusion. None of this made any sense! Cardin said whatever he put in the drink wasn't anything close to poison, but even then, that shouldn't-

Oh yeah, how could he possibly forget? Cardin, future leader of the Bully's Association, told him that. Jaune trusted the words of a bully whose done nothing but pick on him and every other weaker student within this school. He had a much better chance at getting a pathological liar to tell him the truth before someone like Cardin Winchester would!

"I'm here..." A groggy voice suddenly called, catching the attention of the audience again as all views focused on stage.

"Hey, there she... is..." The optimism in Yang's voice slowly dwindled as the faunes girl entered the stage from the left, opposite of Cardin.

Nothing about her resembled the young Luna they all came to know and trust. Compared to the usual Luna, this one was along the lines of a ragged and sickly-looking fellow given her posture. Her entire uniform was all rugged, she was wobbling as she walked onto the stage, and by the time she raised her fists she raised her head and the look of exhaustion on her face was nightmarish, her eyes were practically glazed over, she had beads of sweat dripping from her forehead, and her cheeks were flushed red. Nothing about her seemed to be lively, if anything she looked more dead than not.

"Something is definitely wrong with her." Ren announced as he examined her stance.

"What the heck happened to her? She seemed perfectly fine when she went to bed last night!" Nora said, feeling sorry for both her figh buddy and her number one person-who-can-make-an-adorable-tiger-Grimm friend.

'Mmh..." Jaune couldn't prevent the small moan and look of worry from growing on his face, one that unfortunately went noticed by the fellow girl who already had anger towards him.

"Jaune?" Pyrrha spoke as she began to grow slightly suspicious.

"Luna Fall." Glynda spoke again, eyeing the girl. No matter what she thought of the student, she knew Luna, under normal circumstances, shouldn't have been anywhere like this. She was usually chipper, hyperactive, easygoing. The Luna right before her looked like she just ran a marathon twice before coming here. Maybe it was just the nerves? This was going to be her first non-written exam since coming here, and a display of her skills at that. "Are both students prepared to fight?"

"Heh, you bet." Cardin grinned with a nod, easing his mace on his shoulder. This was going to be all too good for the head bully. This was going to turn out even better than he thought, he just knew it!

"I'm... I'm ready..." Luna huffed.

"If... If you're sure." Glynda said as she backed into the shadows from the stage. "The match will end when one person either forfeits or their aura drops to the red zone. You may begin when ready!

And just like that, Luna ride to someone fire only to produce a puff of smoke. She couldn't figure out what was wrong with herself. Her whole body felt ready to fall asleep at any given notice, her body weighed nearly a ton, and her vision for crying out loud! Everywhere she looked, everything seemed to be twisting and turning, She could only wobble side to side as she slowly walked forward, a slight bit of drool dripping from the corner of her mouth which upon closer inspection students could see it was lava. And the only thing she wanted to know right now was why were there three Cardins at once?

"Ok seriously, something is wrong with her." Yang mumbled, feeling a little tense as she watched this. Luna was definitely sick and feeling weak. Cardin was somebody that would love to take advantage of any situation like this. It was a match made in Heaven from a god with a cruel sense of humor.

'Hmph, you feeling okay there?" Cardin chuckled with a teasing grin. It took Luna another several seconds until she was finally up close to Cardin himself, forcing her head up to look at him and his smug reaction at her face. "You're looking a little pale there, bud."

"Tell you what, since I'm such the noble sort of guy, I'll let you have the first shot, ok?"

"You...You asked for it..." She huffed as she brought her fist back. Doing something as simple as that was taking all her strength, her arms wobbling in place as she struggled to stay in a fighting stance. A snail's pace still would've been more than enough time to dodge, because by the time Luna managed to take so much as a single strike in front of her, Cardin sidestepped to her left with ease, watching the girl herself practically fall forward as she stumbled a little ahead.

The sight of such a sloppy display started earning a few chuckles and laughs from the audience, something her friends started to worry over. If it wasn't going to get her into any sort of trouble, Yang would've loved nothing more than to knock the lights out of these jerkish students. Laughing at someone losing a fight was insulting enough, doing it to someone who was obviously sick and losing was flat out horrible.

"Wow, really great move there." Cardin complimented sarcastically. "My turn."

WHAM*

"Grah!" It was almost hard to watch the scene as Luna grobbled in pain. With one solid swing as if he was holding a baseball bat, Cardin smashed the side of Luna's face, sending the sickly girl stumbling a good several feet away as more beads of sweat leapt from her face.

"Luna!" Blake called out, nearly taking a run for it until Weiss grabbed her shoulder.

"You can't interfere with a match or else Glynda will mark it against the entire team!" She warned. Blake muttered to herself with disgust. She wanted to help Luna more than anything, marks be damned. But she didn't want to risk the chance of ruining the scores or grades of the rest of her teammates if they didn't want to ruin their grades.

Which was the sad yet ironic dilemma crossing all of their minds. Looking at one another, all four of Luna's teammates wanted to help but stayed for the exact same reason. They wanted to help but they didn't want to risk ruining the score of their fellow teammates. Even if they announced that they should help it, if someone didn't want to, they might simply agree with it out of pressure, practically forcing them to cooperate even if they didn't want to.

Which was ironic since they all did.

At the same time, Luna sluggishly pulled herself to her feet, arms still drooped over as she panted.

He knocked her away from him letting out a cocky laugh. Sticking with one of the lessons Hazel always taught about never backing down, she looked up at Cardin and much to everyone's surprise she smirked, ready to fight Cardin hand to hand until she won.

"Pffft, are you serious?!" Cardin burst out with laughter, growing louder as he saw Luna wobble forward with each step. "You gotta be kidding me, I mean really gotta be kidding me." Luna didn't care how much he laughed or the students around the arena did, she just refused to back down. With all of her might, and a deep breath, she pulled back her fist and struck as harsh as she could toward's Cardin's face.

Which he easily sidestepped again and ended with kneeing her right in the center of her stomach.

"Urgh-!" Luna grobbled as she clenched her stomach

"You got to be kidding me here, you think you can beat me?, look at you your just a weak, useless….." Cardin paused kneeling down toward her "…..animal"

Luna smirked again ignoring the pain the best she could as she got up "hehe think what you want Cardin….." she wheezed holding her stomach "but I will not lose to an asshat like you"

Reaching into her back pocket she grabbed a red dust crystal "I wanted to save this for a real problem but sadly for you, YOU, PISSED, ME, OFF!!!" She ate the dust crystal feeling the energy rising in her

"THE HELL are you crazy eating that I'll kill you"

Luna's eyes began to glow red and Blake felt a familiar feeling looking at this, Luna's skin on her face and arms began to change taking on the appearance of scales and Cardin could have sworn he saw a dragon standing behind her as she stared into his very soul.

"What the hell the poison should be making it impossible for her to fight" Cardin thought fear slowly rising as he looked at this flaming tiger faunes staring at with the intent to kill

Leaping toward Cardin shooting fire from her feet Luna punches him straight in the gut cracking his armor and sending him flying off the stage looking up at the screen she saw her worst nightmare Cardins aura meter wasn't in the red.

The crowed was speechless not only did Luna turn things around and throw a punch that hard but she also did the impossible and ate a fricken dust crystal those thought were quickly replaced with that of disgust

As the energy started dying down and the poison began taking affect again Luna grobbled as she clenched her stomach, Luna could feel the bile rising from her stomach as it slowly crept up her throat, trying everything she could from losing it.

She failed.

"Blaarrgh!" The shock from the audience quickly turned to disgust as Luna lost her previous dinner, and perhaps some bits from her lunch, on the floor before her. The only one taking any joy out of this sight was Cardin himself who was lying off the stage injured. Everything was going beyond what he anticipated, and the more laughter this girl earned, the more embarrassment and humiliation it would bring later.

"Dude, that's sick!"

"I can't believe she threw up in front of everyone!"

"Why is she even in this academy?"

All around them the murmurs and gossip continued to grow as the members of Team RSYBL and JNPR were forced to watch as there friend suffered.

Luna tried to stay conscious trying her best but in doing so she forgot to try stand causing her to fall on the floor, Cardin took advantage of this hoping back on the stage walking up to Luna

"Be sure you spread the message to anyone else with bright ideas." He ordered, preparing to strike across Luna's face like a golfer. "Anyone who cross me, gets CRUSHED!" And with an inner rage erupting, he swiped across Luna's face as hard as he-

whap*

"Yeow!" Cardin yelped with a sudden jump as something slapped his arm out of nowhere. Much to his surprise, and that of just about everyone else, especially Luna, there was Glynda Goodwitch herself, with her recently-used riding crop in her right hand and her scroll in the other.

"The match is cancelled, Cardin." She announced as she quickly turned the settings off. With the lights coming on and the screens going blank.

"Oh come on, you can't call it off just because she puked!" Cardin complained. He was just seconds away from bashing her face in and, granted it wouldn't have been as severe with her aura protecting her, getting away with it! "I bet she's just faking it!" There were several moans and boos going along the crowd which the teacher ignored, squatting down to her feet as she felt around her face for a temperature.

"That's definitely a high temperature..." She commented to herself as the sound of running footsteps could be heard

"Luna!" Several of her friends called over as they ran to her side. Immediately, Blake helped her up to her feet, preferring to keep her standing straight in case carrying her resulted on her throwing up on herself. The result didn't appear to matter too much though as she let out a disgusting dry heave, covering her mouth with her open hand.

"Oh god..." She groaned, trying to keep the room from spinning in her vision.

"I can't believe you would try to attend a physical exam in your sickened state like this, miss Fall." Glynda said with a disappointing tone. "If you were sick, you should've just said as such."

"Mmh..." Luna mumbled to herself for a short while before turning her attention to the teacher. "You wouldn't have believed me if I did." Said Luna trying to pull off a cocky smirk "I mean the fire maniac with a temperature, who'd believe that hehe….. Oh god!!"

"Ah-" The student made her speechless. She wasn't ignorant to the prying eyes she had, she wasn't surprised at finding out Glynda had it out for her. She knew about it all and tolerated it up to this very day, There was no saying if she remained silent just for appearance sakes or to throw Glynda off, she knew everything the teacher had against her and didn't show any signs of resisting because of it, all for the sake of keeping her, what she believed to be, purposes there a secret. "Urgh-!" Luna groaned as she felt another try heave, this one feeling accompanied by a bit more this time.

"I'll go get a bucket." Ruby said as she quickly ran off to the side to find something in case Luna threw up again.

"Come on, I'll help you guys back to the dorm." Yang offered as she lead the way with Luna!s friends trailing behind her.

"I suppose I should call a janitor..." Glynda mumbled with a small sigh.

All of them had their worries about her, even those that didn't show it like Weiss herself. For any student to come out like this, even if they were sick, Weiss had to give respect for. Granted, if she was sick to a point as disgusting as throwing up everywhere, she would've stayed in bed to rest, but the idea was still the same. Luna had a bit more determination in her studies than she gave her credit for.

Out of the many feet that walked alongside Luna though, Pyrrha was the one to notice a missing pair walking along the rest of them. Looking back as she walked, her eyes widened slightly at the sight of a downtrodden Jaune standing alongside the smug-looking Cardin, the bully harshly patting his back while Jaune looked away, sneezing again, with regret. It didn't take a genius to put the dots together, adding up Jaune's strange behavior this morning,

There was no way. There was no way she could believe it. Had Jaune really done something to cause all this? Was Cardin so intimidating to him that he actually double crossed everyone and tried to poison a friend of theirs? Or was it worse than she thought? Did Jaune actually try to befriend Cardin just to do anything he said in the hopes of getting him to stop picking on him? That was the worst way to do things!

Then again, maybe he was just desperate? He didn't want anyone else's help anymore, and Pyrrha decided to respect his wishes with that. If this was his way of dealing with his own problems, then maybe she was wrong about someone like Jaune. On second thought, why should she care anymore? He betrayed his friends with his own two hands, and all he had to blame was himself from this point forward.

She wanted nothing more to do with him.

"Blaaagh!" The sound of Luna throwing up could be heard from the other side of the doorway to the bathroom. Luna's friends and teammates looking on at the door. some with concern, others disgusted, all of them confused. The only one capable of comforting Luna at all was her somewhat-tiger-mother, Corrán. It was days like this Corrán hated the most, unable to do anything for her young cub except rest by her side as Luna lied against her fur, occasionally licking her in the hopes of comforting her young one.

At least this time Luna made sure the door was locked, not wanting a repeat of a month ago.

"There's no way Luna could've gotten sick so conveniently before her match with Cardin." Yang scowled crossing her arms.

"What? You think he poisoned her somehow?" Ruby wondered.

"I doubt it would've been that simple, " Weiss added to the conversation, "he would've had to get close without arousing suspicion. There's no way he could've slipped by her."

"How about you Blake? Was Luna usually sick like this?" Nora asked her friend. As the groups became closer to one another, Blake delved a little into her past and relationship with Luna. While she only detailed half the facts compared to what she told her team, she did reveal enough to let the others know that she and Luna almost grew up together, meeting at least twice a month.

Sadly, Blake could only shrug as she leaned against the wall. "I wouldn't know to be honest. I only hung out with her over a weekend every month. She only ever got sick at least twice during one of our hangouts, and with nearly six years worth of visits, that's not that often."

"Blaaaaagh!" The sound of Luna's barfing interrupted the small meeting the group was having.

"Hey Loony, you okay in there?" Yang asked slightly worried, knocking on the door a couple times.

"I can taste this morning's breakfaaast! Ooph-! Blaaaaagh!"

"Yeah she's okay."

"So what are we going to do about Cardin?" Pyrrha asked around. "It's fortunate Luna was allowed a makeup exam after tomorrow, but that doesn't mean he won't try to do something like this again."

"Well, you shot down breaking his arms and legs, so I say we break his neck!" Nora suggested with as much as excitement as yesterday's leg-breaking suggestion.

"Nora, that's gonna kill him." Ren remarked with a slight roll of his eyes.

"Oh... Then we break his spine!"

"Doesn't sound like a bad idea..." Yang mumbled to herself. "Look, whatever happened, all we need to do is keep Cardin away from Luna until the next exam is over. I doubt he'll bother with her after unless he has an audience."

"But that doesn't help us if we don't know how he did it to begin with." Weiss pointed out. "He managed to somehow poison her without any of us knowing, so whatever he did he could easily do again."

Suffice to say, that was an extremely well-made and troubling point. None of them could figure out how Cardin managed to do this in the first place. He used nothing but brute force constantly to bully and harrass people around him, and with somebody like that there's no way he had some sort of semblance that gave him some sneaking advantage. It was just as unlikely that he had some other semblance that could make her sick either, otherwise he'd be using it constantly to bully anyone around him, even Yang.

knock*

knock*

Like moths to all eyes were brought to the sound of someone knocking on the front door. Being the closest to it, Pyrrha took it upon herself to check out the mystery knocker was, opening it just wide enough for herself to see, only to grow surprisingly disgusted by the sight of the person.

"Uhh h-hey Pyrrha." Jaune greeted nervously. "There's some medicine for Luna-"

WHAM*

In the blink of an eye, Pyrrha snatched the mysterious green bottle out of Jaune's hands before slamming the door shut, not giving Jaune a chance to let so much as a toe within the dorm's room.

To him, it was because of how he acted yesterday. He knew he was a huge jerk, perhaps half as much as Cardin, after he yelled at her about bothering him and wanting to deal with his own problems. In reality, he was completely unaware of Pyrrha's suspicions that he was somehow responsible for what was wrong with Luna.

She could tolerate his annoyance and refusal to accept her help. She would never tolerate the idea of someone poisoning one of her friends just because someone told her to.

"Who was at the door?" Ren asked before noticing Pyrrha's stern look.

"Wrong door." She sputtered, earning some curious and confusing looks from those around her as she walked over to the bathroom Luna was occupying. "Luna? I got some medicine for you." She said rolling the bottle under the door's frame. She didn't want to risk the chance of anyone seeing the tiger present behind Luna herself, provided she wasn't well enough to actually send her away at the moment. Even if she did, she'd rather not enter the room or open the door to the smell of fresh vomit going off every several minutes.

"Thank you..." She could be heard replying. The group waited several moments to see if there was some sort of reaction from from the sickly girl. What they got wasn't too surprising. "Bleeegh! It tastes like a jar full of sweat! Blaaaagh!" She whined throwing up after.

"What the heck was that stuff?" Yang asked curiously.

"Some sort of nausea medicine," Pyrrha replied, "I think it'll help her with her vomiting."

"I"m more concerned she knows what a jar full of sweat tastes like?" Weiss commented, briefly pondering the reason in her mind before shriveling with disgust. "On second though I don't wanna know..."

"Did the person at the door give it to you?" Blake looked back to the entrance as she asked. "Who was it?"

"Hmph, no one important." Pyrrha put it bluntly. Her response raised more questions than answers, but nobody cared for it. They were just glad Luna had some form of medicine at this point to deal with her constant throw-ups.

At the same time, Jaune kept his head down as he heard the conversations beyond the door. Pyrrha was really mad, there was no way he couldn't see it. He felt like such a screw-up at that moment. Not considering the fact she knew he was responsible, she had every reason to be mad at him. It wasn't enough for just the previous reasons either. Right now he was too afraid to confront the entire group and tell of him of his problems. With everyone in the room at once, there was no way he'd be able to keep from confessing what Cardin tasked him with.

Even if he somehow managed to keep his composure, there was no way he wouldn't be able to tell everyone about Cardin. They knew he was a bully and he wanted nothing more than to see him get his comeuppance. He just couldn't risk the chance of him ratting out Jaune's secret to Glynda and getting him expelled!

He spent his whole life admiring and wanting to follow in his family's footsteps. Growing up with such heroes, he would hear on and on about the heroic exploits of his father, the grand adventures from his grandfather, and the tales of epicness of his great grandfather! What did Jaune have compared to any of that? Nothing! He had absolutely nothing!

He wanted to make a name for himself, being known out there in the world. Everywhere he went he wanted to hear people say "Hey look, it's Jaune, the Hero of Vale!" or something like "Is that Jaune? I heard he took down seven Nevermores without breaking a sweat!", and the works. Out of all of this, he just wanted someone to give him a little recognition.

Maybe that's what drove him to be Cardin's lacky? Maybe it was greed? He was so desperate to do anything to stay within Beacon that he would turn on his friends. Maybe it was loneliness? No, scratch that. How could he feel lonely before this started? He had great friends that supported him, faults and all. They liked him for who he was no matter what he did or how many times he screwed up. No matter how many times he failed, they always praised his determination and courage.

But he couldn't look at himself now, or his runny nose. He had nothing. He felt like nothing. And as far as he knew, he was nothing. So he did the only thing a nothing like him could do, and walked down the hallway in shame.

To nothing.

"Yes students, the Forest of Forever Fall is indeed beautiful." Glynda went on as she lead the students through the beautiful red forest.

The next day was like many of the other ones the students of Beacon were greeted to, with another class and another field trip like they usually took once a week. Today's trip was more literal in the field of things as today they found themselves exploring through the beautiful forest of Forever Fall, the name given for it's Fall-colored leaves year-around.

Thankfully, today also started much more brightly for many of the students, especially Team RSYBL's members. Bright and early, first thing in the morning, Luna managed to greet her friends with the same enthusiastic happy smile on her face that she always greeted with, as well as the quirky shenanigans that usually ensued that morning. Needless to say, given the amount of vomiting she went through the previous day, losing a day's worth of contents from her stomach, she was starving that morning. Fortunately, she managed to keep everything down just fine. Whatever medicine Pyrrha took from Jaune proved to be super effective for Luna's ailment.

He wasn't off the hook with her though. All throughout the morning breakfast, she didn't so much as glance in his direction as they spoke, even though Jaune remained silent for most of the morning anyway. When it came time to question him about his whereabouts the other day, he went on with how he was just busy gathering everyone's homework that afternoon since the seven students were caught up with Luna's sickened state. It was believable for the most part, although they were confused as to why it took him till late in the evening to return, Jaune being forced to go on about how he forgot everyone's classes and had to relook. Many of his friends acknowledged this reasoning whereas Pyrrha just scoffed.

The only amount of decency she had for him was what kept her from blowing the lid on Jaune's secret involvement with Luna's sickness. She hated him more than anything for it, but she couldn't bring herself to rat him out like that. If he did it again, then of course she would've been more than happy to but she was still too respectful of him. She knew for a fact he'd end up with several bruises from both teams if any of the others found out about his secret, and despite everything he's done up to this point, she didn't want to be responsible for any injuries he suffered in turn.

That was the level of cruelty that Cardin cherished, one she would never stoop to.

"But we are not here to sight-see." Glynda continued. "Professor Peaches asked all of you to collect samples from the trees deep inside the forest. And I'm here to make sure you don't die while doing so." After another minute's worth of walking she finally came to a halt in the middle of the clearing, the perfect spot to view all of her students as they went about their tasks. "Each of you is to gather a jar's worth of red sap. However, the forest is full of creatures of Grimm, so be sure to stay by your teammates"

Luna wasn't really paying attention to what Glynda was saying all she knew was Get tree sap for the assignment as well as for Corrán and maybe get back at Cardin for the embarrassment he caused her

That was the one dilemma she had to face all morning. Throughout her day, thanks to the mysterious illness she suffered the other day, she's been getting teased and made fun of nonstop. From "Vomit Girl" to "Drooly", the insults and names never ceased. That's not even counting the near hundreds of random people just snickering in the hallways as she passed as they poked fun of her, all of which Luna was too aware of.

She didn't let it get to her though. Not out of self-respect or anything, she was just aware and predicting this sort of reaction from her fellow Hunters and Huntresses. Nothing but scum who would go around and poke fun of people for reasons beyond their control, whether or not it embarasses them. They were worse than animals in a way, at least they didn't go around making fun of their own kind due to some disability or something.

Not counting cartoons, anyway.

Seeing Luna zone out Blake patted her friend on the shoulder "Hey Luna you ok"

"Yeah, I'm good Let's go Blake!" Luna quickly said, grabbing Blake by the wrist before pulling her along in a running sprint.

"W-Wait, not so fast!" Whatever was up with Luna she needed to find out. Given how spaced Luna was acting though, they definitely needed somewhere unoccupied.

"Huff, I can never get a read on that one..." Glynda sighed to herself as she returned to the rest of the class. "We'll rendezvous here at four o'clock. Stay safe, and have fun."

Fun was what most kids did, and fun was what most of them planned on doing during their time there. For some, it came from simply hanging out with their teammates and others around the schools as they explored a little of the woods while doing their assignments. For others, it was Cardin enjoying the sight of Jaune carrying his stuff for him along with the rest of his team's jars.

It didn't matter to Pyrrha how much Jaune refused to stand up, she still felt a little sorry for how pushed he was getting. She explored the woods for a few seconds until she found the leader of Jaune's team, the leader herself being assisted with Yang as she carefully filled the jar at a measured level.

"Excuse me, Ren?" Pyrrha called as she approached.

"Yes Pyrrha is something wrong?" Ren asked as he continued gathering his sample.

"Aren't you the least bit curious or worried as to why Jaune's helping Cardin with the assignment?"

The question earned her a few heads turning her way, specifically Yang's and Ruby who was approaching the group with more jars.

"We don't know what's going on either, but he said he could handle it on his own." Ruby replied, trading her empty jar for the next full one Weiss handed her.

"And you let him go just like that?!"

"It's not like we wanted him to or anything." Ren retorted as he organized the box of jars. "But he kept insisting he needed to do it."

"He wouldn't even let me deck the guy in the gut." Yang growled irritated. "I know that guy had something to do with Luna getting sick, I wanna smash the truth out of him!" It was fortunate the three were preoccupied with their assignments, otherwise the small frown growing on Pyrrha's face would've drawn suspicion.

"Well... W-What would you have done if someone else had did it?" She asked uneasily.

"Trust me, when it comes to Yang, it wouldn't matter." Ruby responded in turn looking back. "And honestly, i wouldn't blame her. None of us are going to be fine until we figure out how Cardin poisoned Luna."

"Yeah speaking of being fine, you might wanna go check up on Luna." Yang suggested pointing down a path. "I think somethings wrong. I think she said something about a tiger?"

"T-Tiger?!" Pyrrha eeped. None of the three could catch a glance of the panicked expression on Pyrrha's face before she dashed down the pathway towards her remaining team. All this did do was grow curious faces on the three members left behind.

At the same time, coming up along the path, Pyrrha was greeted with the sight of a frantic Luna and a nervous Blake trying to keep the situation under control. "What's going on?"

"Nnngh, its the sap!" Luna squeaked. It was at that time Pyrrha could finally see bobbing up and down with her hands on her shadow. It was as if she was doing push ups with magic. She didn't need Luna's following explanation to understand what was behind all this. "It's driving Corrán nuts!" As if to confirm this, there was a brief sight of ears popping out of Luna's shadow, followed by the pleading whine of a tiger begging for a treat.

"I thought you had her under control?" Blake began to worry as she attempted to keep the tiger in Luna's shadow, just like how Luna was doing everything in her power to do the same.

"I usually do, but she goes crazy for this sap whenever she's near it!" Luna yelped "Someone really needs to give her some, like now!"

"I sent Nora off to get some a few minutes ago. She should be coming back anytime soon now." Blake stated, looking around for any sign of her returning.

"Wait, you sent Nora out to collect the sap?" Pyrrha questioned, earning a slightly worried look from Blake.

"Yeah... Why?"

Uuuuuuuuuuurp!*

"Ah, that hit the spot." A satisfied and happy Nora sighed, wiping the remaining sap from her mouth.

"Noraaaa!" Luna mumbled. "I needed that stuff for Corrán!" The mere mention of the fluffable tiger made Nora's eyes bug out.

"What? Corrán? Is she alright?!" She panicked.

"Yes Nora, she-" Luna paused as a sudden idea came to her mind. "I-I mean no, she's not, she's terribly sick!"

"Terribly si-mmph!" Blake's repeated confusion earned her a hand covering her mouth as Luna continued.

"Seriously, she's incredibly sick! She needs the sap stuff to make her all better!" Pyrrha understood where Ruby was going with this as she saw the humorous state she put Nora in.

"OHMIGOSH! Why didn't you say so!?" Nora screeched pulling her hair in a panic. "Hang on Corrán, I'll be right back!" Faster than they could blink Nora vanished from their eyes, leaving only a trail of dust in her path as she disappeared into the forest.

"That girl really is motivated when she needs to be..." Pyrrha commented as she went back to Luna.

"Anyway, is there anything we can do to help?"

At the same time, the four key members of the Bully Society were lounging around under the majestic Forever Fall trees, having the time of their life. There was nothing like the nice comfort that came from being able to lounge around all day while someone else did all the work for them. They could just rest, lay back, enjoy the finer things in life, and know that no matter what sort of assignments were given to them, they could always rely on somebody to take care of it for them.

That person was Jaune Arc.

As shocking as it was to say, Jaune was a little less for wear when it came to their tasks. Numerous homework assignments needed, sharpening and cleaning their weapons, paying for all the snacks they requested throughout the school day, all of it was becoming a bit too much for the young desperate boy.

And that was just the stuff he was forced to do this morning! Don't get him started on the nightmares he had to endure yesterday from Cardin's team. As of right now, he was just returning after a long and grueling process of collecting tree samples for Cardin's entire team, including himself. To make the process more annoying and irritable for him, he also had to acquire a sixth jar for an unknown reason, the process still taking nearly five minutes at a time to collect each jar.

It was a process that was slowly turning his mind to mush, and not helping the allergies building up in his already running nose. By the time he got back to the group he was nothing short of exhausted, collapsing in the spot in the middle of the clearing Cardin's team was relaxing.

"Ugggh!" He groaned as he fell.

"Hey, great work Jauney boy." Cardin congratulated as he walked over to his fallen servant. "Now that wasn't too hard, was it?"

"Ngh... I think this stuff is making my cold worse..." He sniffled.

"Great, great, great." Cardin completely ignored his state of being. "So Jaune, you're probably asking yourself, "why did my buddy Cardin ask me to collect six jars of tree sap when there are only five of us"?"

"That is among the various questions I've been asking for the last several days, yes." He moaned getting back to his feet achely.

"Well, come with me and you'll find out." The grin growing on his face told Jaune what he was already aware of.

"Oh..." This was bad.

It was only a few short yards before the remainder of Cardin's group lead Jaune to the cliff of the hillside they were on, staying low to the ground as they kept themselves hidden behind some of the tall red grass. Cardin was the only one of the four who stuck himself up a little higher as he looked closely over the hill, all waiting on their dependable Jaune to crawl over to his side, where Jaune caught a glimpse of what excited them so much.

The same excitement would be replaced by fear for only him.

Below the clearing, he saw the numerous and friendly faces of his fellow teams and friends, or friend-ish on some cases for those who were still mad at him. Up ahead he could see Ren, Yang, Ruby and Weiss diligently working as they collected the last of the samples. With Weiss at the head of the order, she wiped the sweat from her brow as she nodded back to Yang, confirming their completion of the task at hand. At the same time, Luna, Phyrra, Blake and Nora was a little less than prepared. The poor faunes girl seemed to be frantically pushing down her shadow, as Blake and Pyrrha stod close in the hopes of trying to help her.

"I swear I'm starting to get a work out from this!" Luna whined as her face twitched, just audible enough for Cardin's team to hear.

"Well what do ya know? Little Fall giving into her animal instincts." Cardin chuckled, not knowing the true extent of Luna's dismay. "This is going to be fun."

"Um... fun?" Jaune gulped. Cardin always meant the opposite to whenever he said something was going to be fun, it really wasn't. It was going to be terrible.

"Payback-fun, Jauney boy." He specified, practically whacking Jaune as he patted him on the back.

"You... want to get back at Pyrrha and Blake for class the other day ago..."

"It's like I told you before Jaune, no one gets away with humiliating me." He glared back at the trio of girls who were still waiting for Nora. "It's time someone taught the red head and the Faunus-lover what happens when you mess with me. It's just now, we're going to get a three-for-one special with all three of them in the same place." And with a look of satisfaction, he pulled out another small box from behind him.

"Alright boys, last night ol' Jaune here managed to round up an entire box of rapier wasps. And now, we're going to put 'em to good use." Only now was Jaune regretting the multiple times he was right in his life. Every time he was, it usually ended up being bad. All he could do was chuckle nervously and pray this wasn't going as expected. "Now, according to the essay Jaune wrote for me a few days ago, these nasty little things loooove sweets. So I'm thinking, why let the animal have all the embarrassment when we can give it to all three of them!"

"Heh heh, with all the bees chasing them around the forest and the sap covering them, nobody will let them live this down for a long time!" Russel commented as he laughed.

"And that's where you're gonna come in, Jauney boy." He announced, looking back to the one tool that would make this all possible. "We're gonna teach them a lesson they'll never forget." He tossed the sixth extra jar into Jaune's hands. "Now, hit 'em with the tree sap! Either that, or I'll have a good chat with Goodwitch, and you'll be on the first airship out of Beacon."

This was it. This was where it was all leading up to. What choice did he have anyway? None! The answer to all this was pretty simple, right? All he had to do was throw the jaw at the trio of friends, all of whom were already frantic and panicking as they tried to help their beloved friend, Luna, the girl who had already suffered humiliation and embarrassment from yesterday's sparring session, and the girl who seemed to be having some sort of reaction to the surrounding tree sap within the woods.

He didn't need to think that hard on it, right? It was either continue doing what they wanted, or be expelled for good and not only be considered the one failure of his family, but tarnish the rest of his family name with his illegal entry. It wouldn't just ruin his life, it would destroy the work and credibility that the rest of his family worked so hard to build.

Besides, they all deserved it, right? He just had to keep thinking of every reason behind it as he prepared to throw. First there was Luna, the hyperactive mystery girl who was rather unusual in her own way. From social mannerisms to her history for the last few years, there wasn't the least normal thing about her. And being normal was a sin around here...right?

Then there was Blake, the best friend who always stuck by Luna's side through the bitter end. What a horrible thing for a person to do! To be so loyal to another friend that they would stay by their side no matter what, always being with them and supporting them through their most troubling endeavors.

And then there was Pyrrha, the worst of them all. The girl who was always nice, the girl who surpassed most of her studies, both mental and physical, and the only one to ever offer her assistances to Jaune in person, going out of the way of her own work to help him in his time of need. What did you call that? Decency. And decency was the absolute worse thing for any Hunter or Huntress in the world to have!

...Oh who was he kidding?

"...No." He turned away still feeling shameful. These weren't reasons to throw at them, they were the complete opposite! And all of it started out because Jaune was too afraid to say no to his constant bully, the only one whoever did deserve to have this jar thrown at them.

"What did you say?" Cardin grumbled walking over. There was no way he heard what he thought he heard.

"I said... No!" Jaune repeated. Cardin was bigger than him, stronger than him, and tougher than him. But there was no way he was going to betray his friends again. With nothing more than anger in his heart, at those who bullied him and himself, he tossed his problems away behind him, along with the jar.

Only to realize too soon of the Cardin the jar landed on.

Naturally everyone was speechless. It was about time someone like Jaune had the guts to do something, and he had to go and waste them by doing something as stupid as this. Rubbing the sap a little to make sure he wasn't hallucinating, what was supposed to be Cardin's rage was replaced by a look of wicked glee. He didn't care what Jaune did, only that he now had an excuse for what he had to do next.

"Ohhh, Jauney boy... you shouldn't have done that." He warned. Jaune thought all too correctly at what was going to happen next as Cardin's friends grabbed him.

This was going to hurt.

Nsudndyd d

WHAM!*

"Oof!" Jaune groaned in pain as he was smacked to the ground again.

Well way to go Jaune, you finally have something to be proud of. You stuck to your guns, stood up against your bullies, and faced one of your many fears! He could tell in the future, he was going to look back on this day and tell his own kids how he heroically stood up against his bully, showed his guts of steel, and triumphed over the day!

Too bad, Cardin was most likely going to rip them out of him now.

There wasn't any fairness about it either, though if you were to ask Cardin he would say otherwise.

For once in both their lives, he wasn't about to beat the living snot out of Jaune for disobeying him.

He gave him the one simple order of throwing a jar of Forever Fall tree sap over Pyrrha, Blake, and Luna, the latter of who appeared to have some kind of reaction to it in the form of atracking the ground. Not to mention the fact she was already suffering embarrassment and ridicule from her fellow classmates for reasons Jaune was still trying to comprehend. Her embarrassing display at yesterday's sparring exam would never be lived down.

To them at least.

And what did Jaune do instead of that? He stood his ground for the first time. He couldn't go through with it. How could he? None of those girls were mean, none of them deserved any ounce of the tree sap over them. If anything, Jaune was the one who would rather poor it over himself if it meant sparing them. Instead of that, he did something he nor Cardin had ever expected, which entailed throwing the tree sap over at Cardin himself, covering his chest with the sticky pink substance.

So hooray for that! That was a proud milisecond moment of Jaune's life. Unfortunately his one moment of pride was cut short by the violent thrashing of Cardin and his goons. The smug bully was actually taking more enjoyment out of this than he thought he would. Thanks to Jaune splattering the sap on him, it gave him a very reasonable excuse to continue his beating quota.

With another cheesy grin, he lifted Jaune by the collar of his shirt again before smacking him down once more. "You know that really wasn't smart, Jauney boy." He said cracking his knuckles. By now Jaune's face was covered in bruises and a cut lip, none of which mattered to the young Arc as he continued to stand his ground. "I'm gonna make sure they send you back to mommy in teeny, tiny, pieces."

"Ngh..." Jaune grunted as he grabbed Cardin's hand weakly. "I don't care what you do to me anymore, I'm not gonna let you mess with my friends anymore!" Out of the many faces Cardin made throughout this beating, this was the first one that looked relatively surprised.

"You think talking like that makes you tough?" He yelled smacking him back down to the ground.

"I'm going to show you exactly what makes a man tough, Jauney boy."

This was going to be painful.

Meanwhile, at the same time, Luna was having her own predicament to deal with. Coming to Forever Fall forest was a pleasant experience at first after all the trouble she's had to deal with since yesterday. Of all the times for her to get sick, it had to have happened on the same day she had a sparring exam in front of the entire school. She felt dizzy, nauseated, unbalanced, hot, sweaty, and delirious all at the same time. It would've been enough to just deal with that, but out of all the hundreds of students she had to go against, it happened to be against Cardin Winchester him, the number one bully of the school.

Not surprisingly, he didn't take her state of being lightly, or show any sympathy or mercy to the sickened girl. He pounded her across the small arena throughout the exam, gloating and teasing her at every corner as she weakly tried to fight back. She did get the really good punch in but that took all her power.

Eventually it got to the point where her sickness caught up to her, thanks to the assisted energy drain that dropped her to her knees. With little willpower to fightback, she collapsed to her knees as she lost her breakfast, yesterday's dinner, and part of yesterday's lunch all over the floor from her mouth, right in front of hundreds of students, her friends and teammates included, who continued teasing her and poking fun at her sickness all morning.

Of course, all her friends were suspicious of these turn of events. For Luna to just coincidentally get sick right at the same time for her match with Cardin was all too perfectly timed. All of them assumed correctly in that Cardin had something to do with all of this. The only thing one of them, Pyrrha, did know though was who was responsible for directly poisoning Luna.

Jaune Arc.

She wished endlessly that what she saw was just her mind playing tricks on her, that she was just getting ahead of herself since she was more preoccupied and worried for her friend. The way Cardin praised Jaune after the match, the guilty look on Jaune's face as RSYB and NPR helped their sick friend to bed, there was no way he wasn't a part of it. Sure, Cardin indefinitely bullied Jaune into doing it somehow, not knowing about Cardin's eavesdropping on the rooftop the day before the match, but that was still no excuse. She hated herself for ever thinking Jaune was different than the rest of them, thinking he was more professional than the rest of the everyday students at school. To think she actually cared about him for thinking he had troubles of his own to deal with.

And here she was, thinking incorrectly. She saw Jaune as someone different and he immediately proved her wrong. He gave into the bullying, he gave in to Cardin's demands, and he went as far as to follow along with whatever plan he pulled that involved poisoning Luna. Now, she couldn't care less about what happened to Jaune, no matter how much it hurt her.

Besides, right now, he wasn't the one that needed help, not that she knew at least. Apparently, the trees within Forever Fall Forest had a strange attraction for the numerous Grimm surrounding it. They loved the smell of the sweet sap, the bitter sweetness it gave with each taste. It was like bringing a bucket of fish to swim in a pool filled with worms, the bait was endless and the temptation plentiful. There was no way any of the creatures could resist the alluring scent of Forever Fall tree sap.

Unfortunately, that included a certain Grimm by the name of Corrán, Luna's guardian and pet since childhood that's literally been a part of her since she merged with Luna's shadow. No matter how much willpower Luna exerted, the orders she constantly threw at her, she wasn't staying at bay. She wanted the tree sap, she NEEDED the tree sap, it was just too good to resist! It was taking a combination of Luna's physical and willpower, along with Blake's and Pyrrha's assistance in trying to push it into the shadow. She had enough willpower to keep her from appearing from her shadow, but there was only so long she could maintain control before losing it.

"I'm back!" Nora quickly announced, panting out of breath. The only one who loved the tree sap almost as much as Corrán was Nora Valkyrie, the hammer-weilding powerhouse of team JNPR. She loved the sweet-tasting sap, she craved it. The only other thing she cherished more though was the adorable bag of hugs known as Corrán, the kitty she would do just about anything for for it's love and affection. So it was no surprise that she returned with nearly a dozen jars filled with the delicious sap, only half of them half empty due to the irresistible urge Nora had to taste some of it.

That alone was nothing short of shocking given Nora's love for the sap. It didn't really help that in order to get Nora to get the sap and actually return with full jars that Luna had to lie and tell her Corrán needed it for medicine. "Is Corrán okay?!"

"Urgh- She's... NghhhAhhh!" Luna yelped as Corrán finally burst out of her shadow, Blake and Pyrrha both getting thrown back themselves. Normally the sight of any Grimm suddenly lunging at a teenager would terrify any youngster. Like everything else with Corrán, Nora just embraced it with an excited smile on her face, one that slowly dwindled as she realized the cat was about to body slam her.

THUMP*

"Ugh... Nora!" Luna shook the small dizziness that built up in her head, all her will returning to her in a rush, as she quickly checked on Nora herself.

The sight of it wasn't at all gruesome or terrifying. It was actually more of a sight of relief. There Nora lied, pinned down by Corrán, as she continued to chuckle and giggle as the tigers ticklishly licked around her. The jars were just about your everyday variety of jars, possibly more durable than the rest. Due to her haste of wanting to save Corrán as quickly as possible though, she failed to supply any way of actually closing the jars herself, and with the simple tackle of an excited tiger, the jars were tossed several feet in the air, splattering the jar's contests everywhere around and on top of Nora herself. Thankfully Corrán was more content with just licking the sap, whether or not Luna's own will played a factor in it, as she just licked up the tasty tree residue as opposed to possibly gobbling it along with Nora who continued to squirm.

"Ah- hahah- st-st-stop that tickles!" She squeaked, flailing her arms and kicking her legs top stop the monstrous creature. With the deed done and still enough jars lying around with just enough sap in most of them to complete the assignment, Luna let out a sigh of relief as she wiped the sweat from her brow.

"Phew, finally. I don't know how much longer I could've lasted with Corrán squirming." She commented.

"Tch-pfft -haahahah! Sp-ahaha-sp-speak for yourself! Hehehe!" Nora chuckled, doing everything she could to contain the immense laughter. There was little doubt anyone coming across the scene of a tiger having another student pinned down would incite a panic. Even with it's tail wagging with joy, it was still a Grimm, notorious enemy of Hunters and Huntresses everywhere.

"Well least she's finally calmed down." Blake smiled a little as she scratched the content tiger behind the ears.

"Do you think we should maybe keep some of the sap for her?" Pyrrha wondered scratching her chin in thought. "It might be a reliable way to keep Corrán under control in case something unexpected happens."

"I don't see why not." Luna nodded with a smile. "Besides, she loves this stuff, so it'll be a nice treat for her once in awhile." The trio's attention shifted back to the sight of Corrán as she finally let up from Nora, letting out a cat-like yawn as she stretched along the ground.

As for Nora herself, she was about as much as you could expect given what just happened to her. Getting back to her own feet, she was covered from head to toe in drool running across her entire body. Her eyes were practically bugged out along with her hair which was risen on all ends, all sticky from a mixture of the cat slobber and what little remains of the tree sap still in her hair. While most people would've been rather disgusted after what happened to them, Nora was more than thrilled at what just transpired, finally finding a means to get Corrán to play with her from now on instead of running away in fear.

"Huff... That was awesome." Nora squealed, still excited, as she wiped away what she could with the drool.

"Yeah, you might wanna find a way to dry off before we get back." Pyrrha replied as she examined Nora. "Otherwise you're going to need to find a way to explain why you're soaking wet..."

"Heh, I have a solution." Luna chuckled as she heated up her hands will smiling at Corrán. "Alright Corrán you got your treat, let's go." With the cubs command, having finally finished her stretching, the tiger stood up again on it's paws as it prepared to follow her command. But just as she was about to, Corrán's head shifted to the side as she gazed up the nearby hill, staring at it for a few seconds before grinding her teeth angrily.

"Grrrrrr!" She growled. Both Blake and Pyrrha were taken back slightly by this, being the first time they've ever seen the Grimm angry about something.

"Corrán?" Luna questioned, walking to her side to pet her head calmingly.

"What's wrong with her now?" Pyrrha asked, growing concerned about the Grimm's sudden aggression. Luna looked off in the same direction as the mighty tiger, having seen this kind of reaction numerous times, perking up her ears listening as best she could she figured out what Corrán was angry about.

"Something's wrong." Corrán merged back into Luna's shadow as Luna herself ran up the hill. The remaining three members looked at each other with unease before trailing along behind her.

A Grimm was something to be wary of, always being a symbol of death and destruction to those around them. So when a Grimm found something it's own self considered a threat, that could only mean trouble...

"Ought-!" Jaune coughed onto the ground, his cold making bits of drool slide a little down his chin. He didn't care anymore what happened to him. Cardin could beat him, heck, beat him to death at this rate, and he still wouldn't relent. He was going to be a true Hunter for once and stand face-to-face with his problems for the first time ever. If only it didn't hurt in the process, that would be a huge help.

"Oh Jauney boy, why must you be so difficult?" Cardin teased again with another crack of his knuckles. Any time Jaune took more than ten seconds to get back to his feet, Cardin's own teammates "helped" him up, standing him up by his arms until Jaune regained his balance, just so Cardin could knock him down again. It was really fun at first, at least to Cardin, yet even he was starting to get annoyed with Jaune's stubbornness. "All you have to do is throw the stupid sap Jaune.

Is that so hard to do? Hey, Russel, am I being unreasonable here?"

"Tch, doesn't seem unfair to me Cardin." He joked with a smug grin back.

"Gee, really?" Cardin crossed his arms in a playful manner.

"Hey Sky, Dove, do you think I'm being unreasonable?" Just like Russel, they replied with a joking demeanor.

"Not to me boss, I think you're being more than fair."

"If you ask me, I think Jaune's actually taking advantage of you myself!"

"Wow, what a mean thing to do Jaune." Cardin mocked, pretending to shake his head in a disapproving manner while lifting Jaune by his shirt's collar. "So I'm going to give you one last chance to redeem yourself Jaune. Do it!"

At the same time, Luna and her friends had gathered along the edge of the hill, only far enough for their heads to pop out and more than enough to see what was going on. While they didn't know the reasons behind all this, they could see enough to figure out what was causing Corrán to suddenly act aggressively. Apparently, whatever they were talking about, there was a lot of anger and frustration growing from the four bullies who continued to beat up the guilt-ridden Jaune, their negative emotions being sensed by the tiger Grimm moments ago.

While the majority of the group couldn't tell the reasoning behind this other than simple bullying, Pyrrha was the only one who truly found herself at a cross. Even after all that's been done, everything Jaune did that affected Luna and the rest of her team in turn, she just couldn't bear it. She couldn't stand the sight of watching another helpless student getting beaten up by the school's head bullies, watching them as they continued to laugh and torment someone weaker than them just for standing up to them. That wasn't stupidity or pride getting to him, that was someone full of regret that was trying to make amends.

That, was a Hunter.

"What the hells going on?!" Luna nearly growled, trying to contain her frustrations. It was one thing to watch Cardin pick on someone, it was entirely something else to watch a group of no-good Hunters pick on one single person.

"Oooh, I knew I should've broken their arms!" Nora grumbled. "That's it, new plan: I'm breaking their ribs!" She announced as she prepared to stand out. Much to the surprise of her and the rest of people there, she was halted by Pyrrha grabbing her wrist.

"Wait, Nora, girls, we can't rush in there." She stated, earning natural confused and perplexed expressions from her three friends.

"Why not? We could seriously save him in seconds!" It was the odds that Blake knew were in their favor. Each of the two members of team RSYBL and JNPR had skills that complimented each other, CRDL's only strength was brute force, so putting the two together made the odds very favorable.

"That's just it, he's not going to want our help." She retorted. "It's a pride thing, he's trying to stand up for himself."

"So what? We should just wait until they kill him before we help him?!" Luna stammered. She knew Hunters were trouble, but this was a far low even by her standards. Not only were they proving themselves to be cowards at this point, they didn't even care about doing the work anymore! At least with the people who only helped in front of an audience to show themselves off actually got the work done!

"No, I'm not saying we shouldn't help him, I just..." Pyrrha paused looking back to the fighting. Screw whatever Jaune's preferences were. if she couldn't think of anything else to do at this point, she would've more than gladly broken their arms by now with the help of her friends too. Cardin's bullying was going beyond her expectations, which were saying a lot since they were at the bottom for someone like him to begin with. She just needed another few moments to finally have a moment of revelation, a plan being organized within her own mind. "I have an idea!"

While said idea was being explained to the rest of the party, Jaune was struggling to stand before the bully himself. Every time he smacked him down he refused to lose conscious. Every time Cardin threatened him, he scoffed and spat in his direction, his spit now being mixed with a little bit of blood from his bleeding lip. Yet he stood his ground, breathing weaker with each and every breath. Cardin was actually surprised by how long Jaune was maintaining himself, his own knuckles actually starting to irritate him with all the beatings.

That's why it would be all the more satisfying once Jaune begged on his knees for forgiveness.

"Now, I'm going to ask you one more time Jaune, and for your sake, your answer better be "Yes sir"." Cardin warned, squeezing Jaune in his grip. "Do. It."

"Fuck... off..." Jaune muttered quietly. Whatever he said would determine if he survived the next few minutes or not. Cardin only grumbled at this as he shook Jaune awake some more.

"What was that?" Like before, Jaune squeezed his hands around the one Cardin was gripping him with, albeit weaker than before in all regards.

"I said... FUCK OFF!" Jaune shot back. "I don't care what you do to me, how long you plan on beating on me, I don't care for any of that. I am not going to end up as Trash like you!"

Silence. Sometimes it was a blessing in disguise, for others it was a result of the unexpected. For the five Hunters present, the four who became shocked at the words spoken, their silence was the only thing heard as they processed Jaune's exact words. Only now would Jaune see Cardin's bad side, the veins on his forehead tightening as his teeth clenched as tightly as his grip on Jaune.

"Well then, Jauney boy," Cardin said, pulling back his fist tightly, "let me show you what happens to Trash that plays on the curb!" And with a sudden roar, he launched his fist directly at Jaune's face, the latter preparing himself for all things to come.

Yet, what did come wasn't the painful reaction of Cardin's fist colliding to Jaune's skull. In fact, strangely enough, there wasn't any pain to come at all. Instead, for the first time since his beating started, he actually felt...okay. He actually started feeling less pain as a sudden light engulfed the rest of his entire body, the flash blinding the several nearby bullies and Cardin himself, as well as those of team BL and NP who were about to pull off their plan before the unexpected happened. It only brought warmth to him, blindness to those staring directly at it, and a strange high-pitched ringing sound that followed.

The only thing Jaune felt after was his back falling to the ground as the light diminished once more.

Compared to the numerous times he was too weak to get up on his own, he found his strength returning to him as all pain faded into nothingness. Looking at his own two hands, the weak and battered things that soaked up the first half of his beatings trying to defend himself, the bruises slowly disappeared to be replace by a comforting warmth. All pain had faded by the time the last of the blueness was over, all injuries present disappearing with the blinding light. The only thing that remained was his cold, as well as his future beatings that were sure to come.

"Agh!" Cardin yelled in pain, rubbing his sore hand. Jaune was about to enter a brand new world of pain that Cardin had decided to put off till now. Why was that? Because aside from every reason Cardin had till now, colliding his fist onto Jaune's face brought absolute pain to his whole knuckle, feeling like he just punched a wall made of bricks. It wasn't enough that it hurt his hand in the process, he didn't want to think about what it would've felt like if he didn't have his own aura protecting what little it could of Cardin's hand. At least unlike Jaune, he was going to enjoy the next bout of pain he was about to bring, kicking the fellow Hunter back down as he tried to get up. That didn't stop him from rising to his knees, looking on as he saw Cardin and the rest of his cronies in glaring down at him. "Let's see how much of a man you really are now, Jaune." His threat came all too soon at the sudden sound that followed.

"Grrrrrrrrr!" All Grimm sounded similar. Some had a higher pitched, others had a reverberating echo to their tone. This was one they had yet to hear before. This was a Grimm that towered at least twice in height compared to the rest of them, that took the form of a giant bear that slowly crept closer to the group of terrified students.

Back with the previous team, they all watched with expectancy and mild curiosity as Luna worked her magic, Blake staying close by to keep comfort and calm as Luna concentrated.

During the years Luna had stayed in Salem's domain more Grimm than just Corrán attached to her shadow one of them being a giant Ursa by the name of Freddie.

"Can you really control him all the way from here?" Blake asked. The last thing they needed was for Luna to lose control and have a monstrous Grimm devouring several students.

"Mmhh...ngh..." Luna moaned a little, pushing her hand against her head as she did. "Sort of. I can't control him step-by-step or anything like that, but I can direct him in what I want to do and everything. Like this!" Blake looked back at the bear the minute she said that. No sooner had Luna finished talking, the bear suddenly growled as it swiped it's paw at Dove, sending the teammate flying through the sky as his arms flailed, landing with a resounding thud and following groan upon immediately hitting the ground. "He still has full control of himself, but I can send him orders for what I want him to do with my will if I focus hard enough. Long as I keep sending him impulses like this, it'll be fine... but it gives me a growing headache the longer I do it like this."

"Don't worry, just stick to the plan and it should be over soon." Blake assured, trying to ease her friend's pain.

The plan continued to pull off as Pyrrha instructed and prayed would continue to go off. One by one, Cardin's teammates were either sent flailing several yards away from him, or sent screaming as they ran for their lives past the hidden girls, completely unaware of their presence. After Dove's flight, the next to get batted away was Sky, the teammate actually trying to strike at the bear from behind only to have Freddie swiftly dodge and return the blow with a kick. The third to finally be blown from the battle was Russel himself, Cardin's righthand man. Whereas the other two were batted away, Russel lost all bravery and courage as he ran away screaming after barely dodging the next two attacks from the terrifying Freddie, the other two beaten Hunters following behind him as they screamed for their lives.

That only left the most troublesome of bullies behind, Cardin, who fell to his back after backing away slowly in fear. He didn't even have to get back to his feet as Freddie pinned his paw down on top of his legs, just gentle enough to keep them from breaking, but more than needed to make it painful and horrifying for the fear-strickened Hunter who couldn't even scream. All he could do was stare directly into the massive red eyes of the hideous creature, seeing a small bit of his reflection screaming back at him as Freddie gnashed her teeth.

"Ok, you're doing good Luna." Pyrrha said with a smile, Nora enjoying the show right next to her.

"Now just do something to make Cardin terrified and then send Freddie into the woods so you can get jim after! ...Luna?" Some form of worry crept in the back of her mind as Freddie continued it's menacing growl, to showing any signs of hesitation as it brought itself closer to Cardin's person.

"Ngh...I... I can't!" Luna yelped, worries growing from each of student's minds.

"What do you mean you can't?" Nora fretted, looking back between her and Freddie every other second. "Just call her off or something!"

"I'm trying to but I can't!" Luna shook her head as her focus waned. "Something's distracting him, he won't listen to me!"

"What?!" Blake's eyes widened with fear as the group turned back to the giant bear.

It wasn't any of their faults that they didn't know about it. Honestly, they thought the entire reason Cardin was beating up Jaune was just Cardin being Cardin. They didn't have a single ounce of the truth at hand, nor were they aware of the fact that Cardin had any sap sprawled across his chest. In any other situation, Freddie would've listened to his master's orders without a second thought. He was loyal, dependable, and caring for his leaders cub. But the scent of the tree sap were messing with his emotions, as well as any orders that followed.

On top of that, this was person was scum. This was the very scum that harmed his precious master the other day and brought turmoil and misery to her being. Even with her sickened state, Luna still managed to take full control of all her Grimms will and held all three at bay all throughout her sparring exam with Cardin, the one who inflicted a bruise or two upon her. She didn't lose a single second of concentration as she did, adding to the amount of exertion her already-sickened body was going through. By the time she got back to her own dorm yesterday with the help of her friends, only then did she lose control of her will when she entered and locked the bathroom, immediately heaving as she threw up into the toilet. Freddie was just gratful his leader was smaller than him to aid his master in her troubled time.

Of course, he was unaware. He didn't know the concept of these sparring exams, what reasons they had to exist if it was only meant to hurt one another. The only thing he cared about was that his master suffered because of this person, the very one now fearful of him. This scum would prove to be a useful example of people who cross his master, injure his master, torment his master. It was going to be more than enough to rip the entrails from this student's gullet. He decided not to even eat them, not wanting just tasteless flesh in his own stomach. But he would relish every moment of it in turn.

Whack!*

"Auuuuu!" The bear yelped in pain as Jaune bashed it's head away. Freddie shook his head before growling at the other creature standing before him, Jaune standing at the ready with his sword and shield hand in hand. It was the only opportunity Cardin had to back away slowly, still too paralyzed with fear to stand yet. "Grrrrr!"

"Get away from him!" Jaune yelled back. Yeah, he was terrified, and a part of him really wanted to leave Cardin as much as the rest of his friends had. But his dream was to be a Hunter, a True Hunter. And no matter how scared he was, how likely he was to die, he wasn't ready to back down.

The very same sight brought unbelievable worry and fear to Pyrrha. her so-called plan to help Jaune was officially going to result in his death.

"Jaune..." She muttered to herself, quickly looking back to Luna in worry. "Luna, do something, he's going to get himself killed!"

"Mmh...Hang on, I'm workin on it..." Luna mumbled to the others as she rubbed her head.

Thankfully with the distracting scent no longer keeping Freddie's attention, all Luna needed was for another minute to regain full control of Freddie's entire being.

A minute they possibly wouldn't have at this rate.

It wasn't too surprising that Jaune was getting beaten about by the massive bear, it's massive size giving him a great advantage. Even with every blow he blocked, it was still more than enough to push Jaune several yards away, at least several times off his feet. But not one of those blows were directly towards him. Each and every one of those strikes were blocked successfully with Jaune's mighty shield. Sure, it still numbed his arm more and more blocking each decisive blow, each capable of possibly taking half the torso off of any regular person, but with his shield combined with his aura, he stood steadfast and at the ready of this fearsome creature.

And for every blow that Jaune was dealt, he delivered another several strikes in turn. None of them had yet to scrape the beast itself, only getting as close to cutting off a few tuffs of fur every couple of strikes, but the longer the fight last, the more Jaune adapted to the fight, just like he remembered to his lessons. He watched and studied every single strike the creature made, it's maneuvers whenever it dodged and struck Jaune, and every way it narrowed in on Jaune with each passing blow. Even his cold wasn't enough to distract him from the harrowing fighting that took place, no matter how annoying it became to deal with while fighting the beast.

Then it happened.

After exchanging blows back and forth, or at least attempted blows from Jaune's part, did he finally manage to strike the creature. It wasn't anything to brag about, anything lethal that would've killed the creature, just enough to make his own mark against the beast. Waiting with anticipation for the creature's next swipe, Jaune managed to slide right under the creature's enormous leg, bringing his blade along with him and striking across the base of the creature's paw, leaving a large gash in it's place.

"Grrrr!" Freddie growled in pain. It wasn't much of a strike, only covering above half the size under Freddie's paw, but it was enough to make the bear limp. It wasn't able to put it's full weight on the paw without wincing from the pain it brought, a small bit of black ooze dripping just slightly from it's bleeding paw. It wasn't anywhere near enough to distract it from the rage it had building up, growling more fiercely with built up anger growing in itself. "Grrrrrr!"

"Luna, any day now!" Pyrrha peeped. She's seen that look numerous times in the Grimm she's fought in the past. Whenever a Grimm was injured enough, when it was aware of it's losing state, it would start getting aggressive. From here on out, it would do nothing else until it's prey or attacker lay dying at their feet, feasting on the dead opponent with satisfaction and victorious.

"Just a little longer..." Her frustrations were way beyond Pyrrha's. Dealing with a plan that's already going awry along with a headache that continued to progress was the worst combination of things to deal with. Mix that in with her own worries for Freddie and doing everything she could do to influence Freddie into not killing Jaune outright was the biggest literal pain she ever had to deal with since coming to Beacon.

Back at the fight, Jaune's moment of victory was cut short by the loss of his weapon. Trying to follow along with the same plan he had before, he was caught off guard completely as immediately following another dodge under one of it's paws, Freddie added to the attack by head butting Jaune.

With his own armor and aura protecting him, it did little more than push him several yards away, leaving him completely fine and without consequence. At least that's what he thought until he realized he was one sword short, finding the blade having flung out of his hands and several feet behind Freddie as it embedded in the ground.

Now there was only him with his shield, and an angry and limping Freddie who wanted to complete it's previous task of devouring the still terrified Cardin who was off to the side. If there was a time for every hero to make a name for himself, this was going to be Jaune's. Shouting himself with his own rage, ready to risk everything to get his sword back, Jaune did the unthinkable and charged straight for the beast, the Grimm charging headlong at Jaune in turn as the two prepared to exchange a final blow to one another.

Jaune's plan was risk versus reward, and one he desperately needed. With his amount of skill and what tools he had left on hand, the only way he was going to kill this Grimm was with his sword. As the beast charged Jaune, maw first, that's when Jaune prepared to strike back. With a mighty yell, he raised his shield slowly, preparing to bash the beast's jaw away from the himself, and heave the beast away all at the same time. There was only one disadvantage Jaune had compared to the bear.

He was still learning to fight. If he had adjusted his position or shield by a mere degree, his plan would've gone off perfectly without a hitch. With how it was now, there was enough open space between Jaune's exposed arm and the shield for Freddie to tear at it, ready to rip Jaune's limb from his body along with the rest of him later in the fight if needed. It would take Jaune an official miracle now to realize his error and correct it within the split second that the two were about to exchange blows.

And said blessing came in the form of Pyrrha Nikos. She knew his fault and the error in strategy, and took it upon herself to correct it as she raised her hand. Gathering her own focus like Luna was trying to muster, her semblance kicked in unknowingly to Jaune or the mighty beast, his shield glowing a black aura around it as she adjusted it's scale perfectly to match Jaune's strategy. That one little hitch, the boost he needed to make his plan work, was all it took to follow through. Just as Jaune had planned, the beast bashed it's face into the side of Jaune's shield as he slammed it. Thanks to the injured paw the bear was limping from, it was off balance and off scale, unable to support itself against the ground as the rest of Jaune's plan came to fruition. With a mighty yell, taking advantage of the beast's uneven weight, Jaune pushed the beast ahead of itself as it tripped, throwing the beast several feet to the side as it crashed to the ground, long enough for Jaune to gather his weapon once more before the beast rose to it's injured feet.

With the sight of Jaune regaining his weapon, Pyrrha could finally smile as she lead the rest to him. He truly was learning what it meant to be a True Hunter, something he wouldn't need to do if Ruby would just hurry up. "How much longer?" She asked, still worried for her fellow friend.

"Mmmh!" Luna grumbled to herself in annoyance. "Ok that's it. Plan B."

"Plan-" Blake didn't have any time to ask what she meant by it. Within a few seconds, with Luna's supposed semblance kicking in, the remanning members of the group of friends found Luna suddenly dashing in front of Jaune, cloaked in lightning, much to Jaune's relief.

"Wha-Luna?" He practically yelped, her sudden appearance almost making him jump. "What are you doing here?"

"Hey Jaune," Luna smirked back with a three finger wave, "just thought you could use some help."

In truth, this was nowhere near what she was planning. As she expected, the giant bear Grimm finally snapped back to it's senses at the sight of his beloved master. Up till now, it was completely unaware of how savage and erratic it's been acting, unaware that the multiple senses it was feeling were from Luna trying to exert his own will again. Not even the sight of Cardin's sap-covered chest could distract him away from his master, finally realizing the orders Luna was secretly sending to him at long last.

With a pretend, menacing, growl, the bear hissed once more as it scampered into the forest, Luna smiling to herself as she regained control after all this time.

"It's getting away! I'll get it!' Jaune didn't get a second to open his mouth as Luna sprinted off, chasing after the bear as she seemed intent on finishing it. In truth, like planned previously before everything got messed up, she was just going far enough into the forest until they were both out of sight, merging Freddie into her shadow once they were in the dark. Luckily Freddie's injury was only minor, something that would heal within a few hours while he relaxed in Luna's shadow.

"Luna wait-!" Jaune's desire to chase after her in the hopes of helping were cut down by the next interruption.

"Jaune!" Pyrrha caught his attention, surprised she was talking to him after several days ago. "We heard about the Grimm! Are you guys ok?"

Normally, Jaune would be more than relieved to see Pyrrha and the several other students who definitely could've taken on the giant bear Grimm by working together. Yet, as happy as the reunion was, there was one other detail he had to deal with first, the only thing that mattered to him since he knew Pyrrha's worry for him would only be temporary. He brushed himself past the girls as he walked over to the dumbfounded Cardin, helping him up to his feet as the girls whispered from behind him.

"Shouldn't we tell him you at least helped him?" Blake whispered over.

"Yeah, he doesn't need to know about the Grimm obviously, just your help." Nora added. This only earned a few chuckles from the expert herself.

"Well, we could do that," and the look of determination on Jaune's face told her otherwise, "or we could keep this as our little secret." This was a moment Jaune needed for himself. After everything he's been through, everything he's done, he's deserved this one little moment of encouragement.

"Holy crap Jaune..." Cardin mumbled as Jaune helped him up. The grip on his hands made Cardin wince as it tightened a little, Jaune moving his head closer to Cardin as he glared into his eyes.

"I don't care what you do to me anymore, but leave my friends alone from now on! Got it?" His threat was made clear. Cardin could only gulp silently as he nodded, Jaune squeezing his hand one more time before walking away again.

At this point, Pyrrha was happy. For the first time in the last several days, she was actually happy about Jaune.

She was wrong about him.

"Achoo!" Jaune sneezed once more as he sat on the ledge of the school's rooftop.

It was funny really. To think several days ago, all his problems started right at this exact spot on the rooftops, right after Oobleck's history class no less. He thought he would be too terrified to come here, to the one spot where all his troubles began, where his entire reason for being here was on the line, how everything he wanted in life was put to the test at this very roof. He didn't care about Cardin anymore, and he definitely didn't fear the guy from this point forward. In fact, he almost seemed a little scared of Jaune at times, the hours leading up to this moment seeming like a dream.

Naturally, there were many surprised and confused faces as the remaining students of Forever Fall, along with the teacher, came rushing to the scene a few minutes after, the screams of terrified students yelling about a bear Grimm in the woods putting everybody on edge. One of the very first to come to the scene were the other members of the friendship squad, Yang feeling more than excited to find a Grimm to pummel down, only to become disappointed at the lack of said Grimm when arriving to the scene.

Following a brief explanation to what happened in the clearing, minus-ing anything related to the bullying, the teacher had to call the remainder of the field trip off. While some students were disappointed here and there, not all of them finished with their sample collecting, the option between staying in a Grimm-infested forest where more Grimm were likely to be drawn to the gathering of students quickly shut all opposition. There was only relief when Glynda told them they wouldn't be marked down for being unable to finish any sample collecting since the field trip was cut short by at least an hour's worth of time.

For the rest of the time, Jaune was just silent. He only ever replied to someone from his team if they asked him about what happened, and, unsurprisingly, there were a few questionable looks from them at first when he told them how he heroically fought off a Grimm. It wouldn't have been the first time he exaggerated a story after all. It was only with the assistance and confirmation of Luna and her friends that they started believing him, congratulating him for his fine work while he didn't actually kill the Grimm that mysteriously vanished later.

So here he was. Here he was questioning everything that happened, and everything it meant about being a Hunter, with nothing more than his thoughts, and his loneliness.

At least until someone spoke at this very moment with a revelation that shocked him.

"You never poisoned Luna, did you?" Pyrrha spoke as she approached, dressed in her school uniform like he was.

"P-Pyyrha?!" Jaune nearly yelped. It's rather fortunate he was exhausted from the days events, otherwise he would've jumped from surprise and possibly accidentally slip off the edge of he building. He only had enough energy to muster a small smiles she sat next to him, both admiring the view from up here. "P-Poi-Poison? W-What are you talking abo-"

"Jaune." She shot him an unsurprised look and a grin. He knew there was no point in hiding it.

"How'd you find out?"

"Hmhm, your mannerism at the spar yesterday kind of threw you off. I don't know what you did, but I do know you were responsible for what happened to Luna." Instead of a look of anger or disgusted, she gave him a small smile full of pride. "At least I thought you did at first until I saw you stand up to Cardin back in the forest. Before you left after we found you, I mean." She quickly added before he could question it. "The person I saw there, standing up to Cardin, that's the Jaune I remember from the first day of school."

"Huff, that Jaune never left." He muttered back, staring off into the distance as he remembered the events in the library.

Still, as helpful as that was he could only frown. No amount of comfort would prepare him for what he had to do next. "Yeah, well... I don't know..." He mumbled again.

"Just sleep on it tonight and apologize by morning. Consider it a teammate to captain order." She said with a small salute.

Phyrra began walking away but stopped as Jaune continued

"I just couldn't do it." He confirmed. "I've been through so much to get here, did everything I could to be accepted to Beacon. And it doesn't matter what I did, up until then, I was ready to do it!"

"Buuut..." She playfully trailed off, knowing there was more to his story. He paused for a moment to sigh, followed by a sneeze he covered up, then continued.

"But... I just couldn't. I want to be a True Hunter like my father, like my whole family line. Like Ruby, like you, like everyone around here... well... except Cardin obviously." Pyrrha chuckled quietly at this.

"I just couldn't throw that away by sabotaging anyone, especially someone who didn't deserve it like Luna."

"Then why didn't you say anything?" She knew he was worried about the fight a few days ago, that he was nervous about how Pyrrha would react to him from that point forward after calling her a bother, but if this was the truth, and she knew it was, then he shouldn't have worried about saying as much.

"Honestly? Because I thought I did poison her any...an...Achoo-!" He sneezed again, sniffling a little as he wiped his nose. "Anyway. I was surprised more than any that she was sick the next day, I thought the drink I gave her made her sick or something. I started worrying Cardin laced both of them like he expected this or just wanted to make me suffer too." To his surprise, Pyrrha only laughed at this. There had to be more than just the irony of it, so whatever she was laughing at had to be something good.

"Well, you can rest easy with that, you're completely in the clear as far as being the one responsible goes."

"Huh?" He didn't poison her? Oh what a dear god sweet relief this was! "Then do you know who did?"

"She did." Pyrrha's announcement brought even more shock and confusion at that.

"Huh?!"

"Heh, not intentionally of course." She added, looking up at the stars. "Apparently Ruby and Luna got it into their heads the day before the match to try several dozen combinations of making chocolate Chip cookies, half their recipes involving raw cookie dough in the process. I think you can tell how that ended up." Now to her own surprise, instead of the huge look of a burden being lifted from his shoulders the look of someone overjoyed to hear of their innocence, he only looked more disappointed to himself, looking away as he did.

"It still doesn't change things, Pyrrha. I was ready to do it up until then, I wanted to stay at Beacon more than anything. It was just my cowardice that kept me from going through with it. And my stupidity to force myself into drinking the other waa...waaa...aaaachoo!... The other one." The results of drinking the laced drink only now revealed themselves to Pyrrha and the outcome of it.

Jaune's cold.

"Then I'm glad." What the heck? Was she just teasing him or something? Did she misinterpret or not understand a single thing he just said? She must've, because looking back at her she was just casually swinging her legs over the edge, admiring the ground's beauty with it's fireflies and blooming flowers in the bushes. "That's the very same Jaune I respected before, the one I met when I first came here. Maybe it's good to be scared sometimes from doing something, because when you feel overconfident in yourself, in everything that you can do, that's when you truly change for the worse." And like the shattered moon above, she smiled brightly at him. "And I hope you never change from being the coward we all know right now Jaune. That's the one I became friends with."

"Pyrrha..." He didn't deserve this. He didn't deserve this encouragement. It didn't matter to him that he chickened out of the poisoning plan, his resolve to go through with it. He didn't want this sort of encouragement for being someone who just pulled out at the last minute. He was ready to go through with it, he wanted to go through with it!

But he just couldn't. It was just like Pyrrha said, he had no confidence in himself nor his attempts at staying at Beacon Academy. He was just a coward, and an idiot at times... But maybe Pyrrha was right? Perhaps that was a good things at time. Perhaps, if only a single step in the right direction, it was on the path to being a True Hunter like he always wanted. Now all he needed was to take the next step.

Shaking the cloud from his mind, he mustered up what little courage he could, standing away from the ledge as he looked to Pyrrha pleadingly.

"Look, Pyrrha, I'm sorry, okay? I'm sorry for the fight we had awhile ago, and I'm sorry for being such a screw up all the time. So... if you're still up for it... do you think maybe that... that you could still train me?"

This. This was him. This was the real Jaune Arc. The same one Pyrrha smiled to on a daily basis, the one she got to know as time went on.

The very one she walked over to, and the same one ready to express her feelings for.

THUD!*

"Ow!" He yelped, rubbing his head. "Ok, I deserved that..." Of course, he would've preferred knowing what was coming to him instead of Pyrrha instantly throwing him to the ground, but anything that happened to him at this point was only too fair.

At least to him.

"Your stance needs some work. You need to be wider and lower to the ground." The brief silence that filled the air turned to one of joy as Pyrrha smirked to him, both of them chuckling a little as she helped Jaune back to his feet. From here, the next several weeks to months would consist of this, almost every day after school. She would train Jaune, and he would learn from her. "Let's try that again."

In an academy full of True Hunters, there was no better way to bond.

While all this was going on Luna was listening in from the other side of the door smirking to herself

"Good on you Jaune"


	14. Chapter 14

"For our final sparring exam, we shall have a makeup exam between Cardin Winchester and Luna Fall." The stage was set up much like it was before all these events had started.

Like previously, the crowd had it's mix of applause and cheer as Cardin made his way to the stage. He could no longer bully Jaune around, not for a lack of trying. He stood his ground after long last and stood up to Cardin, getting thoroughly beaten down in the process. That wasn't the part that kept him from bullying Jaune any longer. The part that did make him stop bullying him was the fact he owed him. After everything Cardin had done to him, he still saved him from the terrifying bear Grimm that Luna unleashed, unaware of the plan from Pyrrha to just scare Cardin and his goons away from Jaune. The only setback they had was being unaware of the splattered tree sap from the Forever Fall trees which started the fight earlier.

Considering Jaune can now be seen standing amongst his friends and teammates, it was easy to tell the outcome of what transpired after. Jaune stood his ground against the giant Grimm, fighting it off long enough with what strength and courage he could summon, long enough until Luna presented herself between the two combatants. It was after finally seeing his master again did Freddie regain his senses, snapping out of his moment of rage and falling back into the woods just as Luna had ordered, catching up to him within a minute to bring him back into her own shadow.

That was the day Jaune's conviction brightened for the first time. He decided to be a True Hunter, much like his father and grandfather before him. He didn't care anymore about what Cardin did to him, he no longer saw himself as the strong Hunters he saw his teammates and friends to be. But he did see himself as someone trying, someone who would work constantly to regain that sense of honor, determined to change everything with his own two hands and find a way to make his family proud of him.

Besides, much to his surprise, what later riddled him with guilt ended up being a ironic twist of fate. Apparently, at the start of the bullying, Cardin's first orders were to give Luna a drink laced with some strange poison, which later turned out to be nothing more than a simple cold at most. All the fears and all the pleas rattling in Jaune's head telling him to listen to the bully were silent to the Hunter himself. Jaune lacked the much-needed courage to go through with his plans, switching the drinks at the last second with his own. Which is why fate took a rather ironic turn the following day when, despite not giving her the laced drink, Luna ended up sick to the point of vomiting, figuring the drink must've made her sick regardless of being clean compared to his own.

With enough shock to make his jaw drop, only later the following night, after the field trip, did Pyrrha realize her sickness were from her own clumsy ideals, trying to make dozens of different chocolate chip cookies using different recipes with Ruby, at least half of those plans involving raw cookie dough.

So now here he was among the people he could call friends one day. He was still scared constantly, worried that they would find out one day about what he did. Even though Pyrrha promised to keep his secret safe, seeing how he truly didn't do anything wrong, he decided he would tell them the truth, once he could muster the courage to go through with it. And Pyrrha promised to be right by his side when he did.

Now all that was left was for the makeup exam to get underway, Luna finally making her appearance onstage as the monitors above them displayed their aura levels via bars.

This match was more important to the members of Team RSYBL than meets the eye. Aside from getting back at the person who humiliated Luna several days ago, still unaware of his poisoning attempt, they needed to show the school just how strong Luna truly was. After the disbanded exam, thanks to Luna throwing up in the midst of the fight, not a student went by her that didn't poke fun of her, calling her mean names and insults to remind her of how she disgustingly threw up in the middle of the match. Not even Jaune had to deal with that ridicule after his failed exam with Cardin, which was saying a lot coming from him. She needed this not just to clear her own name, but to keep the many prying eyes from picking her out of a crowd, her mission still being at stake here.

"Do you think she can take him?" Weiss asked around. Now that she thought of it, aside from Grimm, she had yet to see Luna in a fight with another person. She was capable of taking down a Nevermore in a single strike and hold of a deathstalker with her bare hands, thanks to the combined effort of the eight students, but here things were different. She obviously couldn't go in at full power, unless her actual desire was to incinerate Cardin where he stood.

"Luna will be alright." Blake said smiling back. "Back when we were kids, we would occasionally pretend to be hunters and fight each other with plastic tubes and foam boxing gloves. She learned a few tricks here and there about fighting."

"Yeah but that doesn't really help in this case." Ren remarked. "She's not gonna get tapped by some paper-mache or styrofoam sword. No matter how strong she is, any of those strikes from Cardin's mace is going to leave a mark."

"Nah, she'll be fine." Yang said with a casual smile, leaning her hands behind her head as she watched. "She's a tough girl, I'm sure she can handle it."

"By the way, where's Nora?"

"Oh, she didn't get to bed till late last night. She couldn't sleep." Pyrrha replied. "Since we didn't have many classes to worry about today, she decided to sleep in."

"Is she alright?" It was easy to see the care Ruby had for her she was her hyper ness buddy, whether or not she showed the same level of semi-craziness Nora had.

"Yeah she's fine. She's not sick or anything if that's what you're worried about." Ren assured as she smiled.

"I assume both participants are ready this time?" Glynda asked turning to both students, preferring to keep a repeat of last time from happening. Like usual, Cardin threw her the common smug grin he always gave when preparing for a fight.

"Tch, you might wanna get another bucket just in case, Ms. Goodwitch." He teased, his insults doing nothing to break the always-happy demeanor of Luna, even after half the audience burst into irritating laughter. He wasn't the least bit concerned about how this fight went. Something told him his ace in the hold would work to his advantage.

"I'm ready when you are." She shot back, turning back to Ms. Goodwitch with a look of curiosity. "So just to double check, what are the ways to win?"

"Hmm?" Already she could see the little gears in this girl's head turning. What exactly was she planning? "Once someone's aura drops to the red zone, or if someone concedes."

"You mean surrender, right?"

"Yes miss Fall, surrender. And, as it should go without saying, if you continue to fight someone after they go into the red zone, you will be disqualified and penalized." Her steel gaze went from Luna to the smug bully across from her. "That goes for the both of you, Mr. Winchester."

"Pffft, relax teach. I promise you the animal will be alright." It would be a lie if she said he didn't annoy her from time to time either. A teacher could only stand by and listen though as students made their taunts back and forth, all while trying to determine if they were taking their warnings seriously.

"Very well then, if both students are ready, you may begin at any time." And like the previous time, she stepped back into the shadows as the match officially began.

"Pfff"

With the sight of Luna casually dropping her stance dropping her hands to her sides.

"What is she doing?" Blake asked slightly worried. A sense of unease was starting to fall upon the other students around her, all worrying the same thing.

"She isn't sick again, is she?" Weiss asked.

"Doubtful," Yang gestured to Luna's expression, "look at her face. She dropped her stance on purpose."

"But why? She didn't get a muscle cramp, did she?" Jaune could feel the shivers all over, recollecting the numerous times a muscle cramp hit right in the middle of a spar or training.

"I think she might be trying to surprise us..." Blake grew a small grin as she observed Luna closely.

She was ready for this.

"What the heck? Don't tell me you're gonna throw up again, I prefer to keep my shoes clean." Cardin joked loudly and intentionally, earning several large groups of laughter from the audience. His own chuckle slowly became silent as Luna continued to stand there putting her hands in her pockets, with the same cocky grin on her face that annoyed Cardin.

"Nah, I just figured a big macho man like you would find it easier to fight a defenseless girl." Wow. All he could think of was wow. In one single sentence, Luna returned his comment with her own, actually managing to silence most of the crowd who began to whisper to one another. He shifted his eyes back to the shadowy figures for a bit, noticing the stares and silence emanating around the room. Still, it wasn't enough to discourage him. If anything it irritated him how she was trying to call him out like this.

"Heh, you got pair for a chick. I like that." He chuckled again.

"That's nice. Too bad I can't say the same thing."

Oh god.

"What did you just say?!" He growled, squeezing his mace tightly.

"What, did I speak too fast for you? Im sorry I'll talk sloooowerrrrrrr." She teased.

She actually was. She was taunting and teasing him out in the open, on stage of the arena. Her jokes were actually getting several stifled chuckles from the audience, Yang and several other nearby friends chuckling to themselves at Luna's comments. It was obvious what she was doing, and only more surprising at how effective it was being. The veins growing upon her forehead was a pretty good indicator of how far she was pushing him. And she was going to relish every second of it, just like he did two days ago.

"You stupid little-!" He grumbled as he charged headfirst, swinging his weapon right down upon her.

zip*

"Huh?" All he was met with was the swift moving sound of his mace hitting air, Luna dodging to the side casually without so much as a wink.

"Miiised me !" She taunted sticking her tongue out.

"Ngh!" He growled as he swept to the side, only for Luna to duck under it and slide to to the side once more. "Hold still!"

"Why?" She asked, side-stepping another strike. "It's not like it'll improve your aiming if I stand still."

"Shut up!" He growled. The next swing he took finally collided with something, which was an experience short lived as he realized all he hit was the ground where Luna stood, creating a decently-sized dent in the tile-covered floor.

"Hey, you actually hit something that time!" Nothing she said went without a chuckle or two from the audience, more people joining in as the fight went on. As he grumbled back to her, he saw Russel running around the edge of the arena as he tried to get closer.

"Dude, what are you doing? Just hit her!" He was saying it like he was trying to do anything other than hit her!

"What do you think I'm doing you idiot!" He snapped back.

"Geez, talk about manners." Luna commented. If she didn't know Hunters as the truly awful people they were, she would've been surprised at how he snapped at his fellow teammate. At the same time, it just gave her another idea for a joke. "Do I need to call your mommy and tell her how you've been misbehaving?"

"Shut up you little-!"

WHAM!*

"Ack..." All at one, his vision doubled for a short while as his eyes crossed. In a similar manner he once inflicted upon Luna, Luna returned the same knee to his stomach twice as hard, just enough for him to feel his own ribs for the first time even with all that armor and aura protecting him.

Speaking of said aura, the audience watched with interest as a good fourth of his entire was brought down. At least, unlike Luna, he managed to maintain some of his personal dignity as he wobbled back, never collapsing to his knees like those before him. To add to his pride, he attempted another swipe at her clumsily with his weapon singlehandedly, Luna nimbly dodging backwards and keeping a good distance between the two.

"That was for me, and for Jaune." Luna said just loud enough for the two of them to hear.

"Grahh you goddamn stupid fucking animal, stop running and stand still so I can hit you"

That was it that one line, she could take the sligh comments, the snickering even the quiet chatter but one thing Luna would never stand for was flat out open rasicm, as the smile faded Cardin could have sworn he felt the temperature rise

"Stupid fucking animal huh that's how we're doing this is that it" said Luna beginning her slow walk over to Cardin

"Oh no" said Blake knowing what was about to happen

"What is it Blake?" asked Ruby growing a little concerned seeing her teammates smile fade

"There's one thing Luna will never stand for and that's rasicm and Cardin just speed out some very racist things"

"Yes, that's how it is, all you are is a dirty animal that should be Grobbling at my feet" said Cardin fully standing putting on his usual smug grin

"……." Luna was silent, she stood within striking distance from Cardin looking down but she did nothing

"Ha nothing to say just what I'd expect from a stupid animal, so take this"

As Cardin took a swing down at Luna everyone expected her to just zip away again but we're surprised at what she did instead

Pat*

Went Cardin's mace as it was caught in Luna's hand as she looked up at him pissed off to high heaven

"Wrong answer asshole!" Said Luna as she sent lightning surging through Cardin's mace and into his armor Luna causing Cardin to drop his mace kicking it away she drawed her fist back cloaking it in fire punching him square in the face launching him into the wall this was followed by several cheers from the audience, most notably from her friends and comrades. In honesty, she didn't care all too much about the praise she got, heartwarming or not. All she cared about was giving Cardin a taste of his own medicine, making him see how it felt to be bullied by someone stronger than him for once. This was one of the many valuable lessons her mother always taught her; be nice to those around her that show kindness and caring, and be ruthless to those who prefer to do the opposite.

Cardin returned with the same grumble of irritation and annoyance like he always did. This was looking bad for him on all levels. She was humiliating him, taunting him in open public, pushing him all over the place, and lowering his aura with every strike. By now his aura had dropped a little under halfway, still feeling the bruise on his cheek from where Luna punched it. He needed to think of a way to get back at her and reclaim his pride both at the same time! But how?

"You ready to end this?" Luna's sudden question caught him completely off guard.

"Huh?" With the way things were going, her confidence that she could end it all was becoming his biggest fear. "End it?"

"If you insist."

There was nothing left he could do. What surprised her friends was something they hadent seen to many times, Luna drew her gun loading it pointing it toward Cardin's head

"Bang, Bang mother fucker" and as Luna pulled the trigger sending a explosive bullet toward Cardin's head as it connected the explosive force sent him back causing him to land flat on his back the Huntress looking down at him with the same smug grin he once gave her days before, only this time they were on opposite ends of one another. He didn't need to even look at the monitors above the arena to know how much aura he had left. The sight of Ms. Goodwitch walking on stage was enough of a giveaway.

"Cardin, your aura has fallen into the red zone." She needlessly revealed, looking to the victor of this little bout. "While I still debate the excessive force, miss Fall, it looks like you won the fight today."

And just like that, there was an uproar of applause as the audience clapped in unison, her friends more audible as they cheered for her. Luna couldn't help the smug look growing on her face, chuckling to herself as she stashed her weapon away. To think the very people who were making fun of her up to this point, the people that berated and insulted her just for her illness, were now applauding her and the grand spectacle she displayed before them. They were practically shouting in celebration with each passing second, congratulating her on a job well-done. It was a bit nice hearing it from some of the people, mostly those who Cardin bullied like Velvet and Jaune, but the rest of them only made her feel one thing: disgust.

They were so simple to change their mind when it pleased them. They go from throwing jokes and picking on people weaker than them when someone starts it, then they immediately go back once the seeming leader of said group of bullies is defeated by the weaker person. In a way, she found them almost worse than Cardin! At least with Cardin he held on to his beliefs of superiority from beginning to end, nobody made him think differently throughout the few days. But these people? These Hunters and Huntresses? They were everything her grandmother told her, everything her dear gran told her about.

She loathed them.

At the same time, another stack of thoughts were being created by another Hunter, one who just suffered a humiliating defeat. His crew were too loyal to turn their backs on him, but this was insulting! For this atupid animal to be the one to defeat him, the person who was supposed to be the laughing stock of this school for the rest of her life to make him look like the idiot, that was unheard of. There was no way he could let this person live with this amount of glee or pride, she didn't deserve it.

What she did deserve was the so-called Ace in the Hole he had up to this point. He didn't win the fight. Fine, he could accept that. He would sooner die than let anyone get away with humiliating him like this, especially someone who had a stupid-looking grin on her face the entire time. Just as Luna's friends were coming up to her, something flashed in Blake's eyes from the spotlight as Cardin began to slowly pull something out from his back. By the time she had her mouth open to warn Luna, it was already too late.

Pat*

"What the hell is this!" Luna yelled as she opened the vial sniffing its contents

This was the worst possible thing to do right now. Unable to comprehend his own loss or accept it, Cardin pulled out the final trick he's been hiding till this very point. Ensuring that her back was turned until after she looked back to him, he chucked a small fragile vial right at her face. The vial itself wasn't hard enough to actually hurt her. It was barely any harder than a water balloon but what he forgot was Luna's lightning fast reflexes and tiger senses. What was troubling about it though were the contents of said vial, just enough to cover most of her face, thankfully for Cardin though the contents didn't connect Luna did begin sniffing.

Forever Fall Tree Sap.

This was perfect. No matter what people said, no one would allow her to live this down. First she embarrassingly throws up after losing a match several days ago, that was the first pound of humiliation she had to suffer. The second pound of embarrassment was going to be the sight of her spazzing on the ground. After witnessing, what he thought was, her breaking out in a small spaz the other day just from being in a forest of tree sap, he knew that applying it directly onto her would do more than embarrass her sadly it didn't connect but she did begin sniffing it. Maybe her face would swell up? Maybe she would start sweating profusely from places unwanted! Whatever happened to her, he knew it was going to be worth it! Even if the audience looked on with anger at what Cardin did, seeing him for the sore loser he truly was.

"Luna!" Yang yelled worriedly, running up to her. Now she wanted more than ever to break Cardin's face, the only defense between her and satisfaction being the presence of Glynda near them. "What did you throw at her?!"

"Tch, just wait and find out..." He muttered, waiting to see the results.

"Cardin," Glynda spoke up, a look of irritation on her face, "you will be working after class for the next week for that." He didn't care at this point, which she didn't care about. Whether or not she was wary of Luna, she could not abide by letting a student strike another in front of her, whether directly or otherwise, outside of an exam or a match. The last thing she wanted was for everyone to start thinking they could do that, and no matter what she had against Luna, she would not allow any other student to go through the same thing because of one person.

"Whatever. Just look at her face, it's gonna happen." He felt his honor return to him, feeling like the mightiest man whoever stood! So what if he lost? So what if he lost the fear or respect from his fellow students and peers? He had the final straw with this Luna Fall, and he was going to show what happens!

As Luna finished sniffing she did What in Cardin's mind was completely insane she drank the contents" huh tasty I can see why Nora likes this stuff?" Luna commented as she licked her lips.

What? What was this? What's going on? Why wasn't she freaking out as much as she did before?

"W-What?!" Cardin jumped to his feet as he stared in disbelief. "What the heck? Why aren't you freaking out like before?!"

"Huh?" She looked as if she had no idea what she was talking about.

"Don't play dumb, you know what I mean!" He yelled. "You were freaking out about it all day yesterday pounding the ground!"

"Pounding the...ground?" Luna poked her chin as she tried thinking. "Oh, that? Haha well you see not all stereotypes about cat faunes are wrong!" Her simple answer only added to his confusion.

"Wait? You mean?"

"Yeah, you know, like pouncing at butterfly's? I can't help it sometimes." She lied with a simple smile.

"Bullshit!" Cardin yelled back "You know exactly what I'm talking about-"

"Cardin!" Glynda interrupted, pointing off to the side. "My office, now."

"Mmmmmh!" He grumbled to himself. He wanted nothing more than to punch the squirt who was knowingly mocking him at this point, waving at him playfully as he walked away with Glynda. Her friends continued to watch the bully being taken away by the teacher before turning their attention to Jaune.

"Thanks again for the warning, Jaune." She owed everything to Jaune for the dreaded warning he gave her the night before. He had no idea how much she truly owed her at that point. And like most people who've been through a lot themselves, Jaune just chuckled with a grin.

"Heh, it was nothing." He replied with a sniffle, still dealing with his cold. "I was just hanging out with Pyrrha on the rooftops the other day when I... overheard, him talking to his friends down below." It was truly ironic after the last several days he's been through. What caused him so much trouble due to a vantage point where Cardin could eavesdrop had come back to haunt the bully himself.

Whoever would've thought he'd be fortunate to hear Cardin's latest plan by doing the exact same thing he did to start all of this?

"You were eavesdropping on him." Normally Weiss would've been rather crossed with such a despicable act, but considering it was dealing with Cardin and that resulted in helping one of her friends, she was willing to let it slide, just this one.

"Heh, I guess you could say that." Jaune mumbled with another chuckle. "So how did you prepare for it anyway, Luna? I thought you had some reaction or something to the stuff?"

"Mmh, I guess you could just say I was ready for it." Luna smiled back, sharing the same smile mentally with Pyrrha and Blake as they all wondered how their other partner in crime was doing...

"Alllllright Freddie, sit!" Nora ordered, waving one of the many jars full of tree sap in her hands.

This was perfect. This was absolutely perfect! She finally had a means to get Freddie to play with her sure Corrán was fun and all but Freddie was just so big a fluffy and now Freddie would play with her each and every day and whenever she wanted! Ok, so maybe not everyday since he was basically one of Luna's guardians for the time being, but still just enough to play with Freddie and be satisfied with it! She continued to giggle endlessly as the large bear Grimm wagged it's tiny tail playfully, hopping a bit place to place as it wanted the delicious tree sap! All it needed to do was obey his new temporary-master-of-tree-sap until he got the tasty treat!

And more importantly, they didn't have to worry about Cardin's plan at this point. As long as Freddie wasn't with Luna while she was near the tree sap, everything would be a-okay.

"Siiiiit..." Nora repeated, this time getting the bear to finally sit down. "Staaaay..." Once again, he obeyed her. She knew she couldn't get him to speak, not for a lack of wanting to, and she didn't want to take the chance having him lay down caused some vibrations or too much noise to attract unwanted attention, so she did the only other thing she could do at this time. "Shake!"

THUMP*

...Ok, maybe that was a bad idea. It was a very fun thing to try, anything dog training related was fun to experiment with! Some of them could roll over, others could play dead, and most of them could do the ever infamous "Shake" command just by asking them. And as expected, Freddie could shake with prefect attendance!... Now if only his massive paw wasn't accidentally pinning Nora's body from the waist up to the ground, that would be some progress.

At least he was still learning, even if Nora was finding it harder to breath, muffled under the giant paw.

"Good boy!'

"Well I'm still happy for you, Looney." Yang complimented, patting her shoulder.

"We should go out to celebrate!" Ruby commented

"We could visit the city tomorrow or something?" Pyrrha suggested.

"I would't mind a peaceful walk for one," Weiss nodded, "it's been awhile since we've had time to relax."

"I know a good spot we can have lunch at." Ren commented as the students began walking away, side by side. As they did, Blake turned her attention back to Jaune, walking by his side.

"By the way Jaune, we never got to thank you for helping Luna when she was sick." She thanked, glad Luna had some great friends around her. What he returned with was unexpected.

"Huh? Helping her?" He repeated with confusion.

"You know, with the medicine you got for her?" The returned confusion only brought more of her own.

"Umm thanks for the thanks, but I didn't get the medicine for her."

"Wait, you didn't?" Pyrrha spoke up, walking on the other side of him.

"Yeah, I mean I didn't even know what she was sick with directly, so I couldn't risk getting her something that might've made it worse. It was already sitting outside your dorm when I came by, so I thought you ordered it." His explanation made perfect sense to the two girls, but that left just one large question for the two girls who looked back at each other in confusion.

Who brought the medicine?

A "B-". That's what Luna deserved. It was fair too after all, something she was sure of being one of her teachers. Creating a small crater in the floor of the exam, using such a dangerous weapon as well as such dangerous abilities all the time without regard for her own injuries or those of others, she was just begging to have that grade.

The job of any teacher was to teach, observe, and grade students individually. It was a simple three-step-process that was harder than most people were aware of. If a student failed to learn, then the teacher failed to teach, yet the same couldn't be said if it was the other way around. The path of any teacher was to guide all students to success, to help them with their many struggles, and help them use their own strengths to surpass their own expectations. When a student was confident in their work, then a teacher could be confident in the student. It was sort of like a relationship in a way, one where both sides could benefit.

Her relationship with Luna was a little... different though. She knew who Luna was, a experiment brought up by the wrong side of morality. She was originally supposed to be someone fighting with evil but now, she was someone fighting alongside it! She knew almost everything she needed to know about her, about her upbringing, about her very reason of being here. Within this school, she needed to keep her eyes peeled of anything Luna did, having some discomfort that her friends couldn't be relied upon now, seeing how it's been over a month and they've yet to report anything to her.

Had they fallen under her guise? Did they succumb to evil too? She didn't know what Luna was capable of, only that she was trouble. Everything she did to everything she was doing was only meant to further her own goal of discovering the laboratory, and she couldn't allow that in the slightest. For crying out loud, the young girl had Grimm following her every move, most likely watched upon by Salem herself! How was she supposed to trust someone so close to evil like Ozpin did?

It was one of the reasons she was so unfair with her grades. She couldn't take the chances of making things easier for her, she needed to make things harder so Luna had less time to focus on finding the labs whereabouts. Sure, Ozpin was against the idea himself, but decided to let it be if it meant she would ease up on Luna enough to stop following her around everywhere.

Something she was still regretting!

She shouldn't be easing up on her, if anything she should be harder on her! She didn't deserve any sympathy if she was a being fighting for evil. Sure, there was that minuscule chance that she could change sides as Ozpin hope, that tinniest sliver of a chance being the only reason she had yet to take matters into her own hands but worse case scenario Ozpin would use his trumpcard. She still proved herself to be a threat though! Not caring if she picked a fight with others if she saw someone being bullied, not caring how she acted for the most part as long as people got to see her casual and cheerful side, not caring at times whether she was practically snoozing or late to most of her classes except history surprisingly. She was just a carefree girl who looked like she didn't have a worry in the world, taking things as they came and moving along with whatever troubles that followed. She didn't even care if she knew how hard Glynda herself was making things for her, she just went along with it as she tried to life freely.

She stopped typing as these thoughts came to her head. This hurt. It always hurt. No matter what Luna did, it reminded her of someone. Taking a moment to dig through her desk, she pulled out a small lock box which she carefully undid, adjusting the measures of it until it finally opened for her to grab the contents inside. There she was, that one other person who reminded her so much of Luna.

Mia Drake. The cheeky class clown, the girl who always preferred to goof off, the woman who always saw the good in others, and the one who wanted everyone to get along and work together.

She wonders if she'd be proud of what her daughter turned into, what forces compel her to work with them. Maybe she would be okay with it? Maybe she would be revolted by the sight of such things? ...No. No she wouldn't. She wouldn't care what her daughter's turned into, she would be too happy to know she's alive and well. Just like she's seen numerous times in this class photo, being the spotting image of what Luna looked like today. With that cheeky smile, ears and tail proudly on display, her classmates gathered around her as well as her teammates. And right alongside her would be Glynda herself, smiling at the camera as she always did back then.

It pained her. Every time she remembered those good times back when Mia was alive her thoughts would always shift to the lab, the experiments, the tears, the screaming, it sickened her knowing she let those experiments happen hating Luna for looking so much like her dead student.

She sighed. She would never get over how much Luna reminded her of her mother no matter how much it hurt her. She could be fighting for whatever side she wanted to and she would still be the daughter of one of her favorite students, who brightened up even the worst of days. It would always hurt her, and would always make her wipe away a small tear from her eye.

Maybe she could cut her some slack. She decided after the sickness she dealt with this week, she could give her a simple "B, just to show her she was doing well enough to not worry about her classes. Not to mention with the humiliation and embarrassment she had to deal with for the last several days since being sick, something Cardin took easy advantage of like the bully she knew he was being. And like all those other days, she set the picture back in the lockbox, placing it back in her drawers as she went back to grading.

Leaving it right next to an empty medicine package...


	15. Chapter 15

"Oh come oooooooon!" Luna growled just loud enough for herself to hear, squeezing her head as she scratched frantically.

Two months. She has officially been here for nearly two months and she had yet find the freaking lab! She had two easy task, three if she could get away with it : find the lab, Get evidence connecting Beacon to the experiments and if possible destroy the lab.

Every book, every single scripture, every stupid piece of reading she could find regarding this place was all for naught. Exploring the school grounds was a no-go. She looked through every nook and cranny, checked every door at least three times, and explored every possible location off the school itself and couldn't find any secrets or possible ideas for where the lab was located. The books themselves were nothing more than a waste of her time, the hundreds and hundreds of pages being filled with details and not one of them telling her where she could find some secret location within this place.

Oh, duh, of course. It was a secret after all. Thank god she realized that only for the FIFTIETH FUCKING TIME ALREADY, or she might've gone insane! All these books were good for at this point were being a soft surface for her to bang her head against repeatedly, getting fed up with this progress.

She's seen numerous books, having checked them all at least twice by now, and still not a single clue after all this time! Her family was patient with her, still supporting her efforts and praising her for her dedication, but she knew that would only last so long. Even if they did give her the next who-knows-how-many years to come, it wouldn't speed up the process anytime soon.

And what could she do at this point anymore? She couldn't just go up and directly ask any of the staff, especially Ozpin, where the lab was within this academy. It was on a need-to-know basis. Not the kind that she "didn't need to know" either, more along the lines of the "how in Remnant do you know about the lab to begin with" case. The only thing more doubtful than them letting her off with confused looks was the possibility of them actually telling her where it was.

"Ugh!" Luna groaned rubbing her head. "What am I supposed to do now?" She mumbled resting her head on her arms, getting sleepy after the last six hours of reading.

Reading was no longer an option, if she could call it that anymore. Whatever books she did find on Beacon at this point would've been a waste of time anyway, the ones she's read up to this point numbered in the thousands of pages and thousands of words in each one. It probably took her most of this month alone just to read the last three.

Calling for help was also out of the option too. This entire time, her very reason for being here was to prove that she could be useful to her family. They were a strange bunch, to say the least. Having a fiery witch as a mother, the leader of the Grimm as a grandmother, and the weirdest assortment of uncles between a crazy Faunus scorpion, a peaceful yet strong fighter, and a doctor who was only concerned for the pursuit of knowledge and a master thief they were about as weird of a family as people could come from.

But they were her family, her's. She lived right alongside the for a good portion of her life, and came to know all about them through her time. Her mother was taken in by Salem herself after her troubled life, Hazel had a tragic history involving his sister because of Beacon, Watts was interested in the pursuit of knowledge and disgraced by his so-called "friends". And Tyrian?...Well... all fairness he was still pretty crazy and she was too scared to question him. Either way, he was still family.

And her grandmother?

Her grandmother taught her about Grimm...

clak*

"Hi-yah!" Luna roared as she attempted to strike the wooden sword atop of Hazel's head. Like many of the other strikes before it, this was easily blocked with the man's bare arms, Hazel only having to stand in one place as his palms blocked it.

This was the usual training regime Luna grew accustomed to as the months went by. She wasn't just spending her time relaxing or socializing with the many new people she came to grow up with, she was training and working with them to become a stronger person. While it might've felt repetitive only socializing with the people surrounding her for the folowing five years, she came to grow and like each and every one of them in her own special way.

The first of her favorite people, not counting her big sister or grandmother of course, was Hazel. At first, it was safe to admit he was rather intimidating. He was one of the tallest people within Salem's domain, always had this bear-like muscle mass to him and the arms that looked thick enough to crush mere coconuts to dust!

The dirt kind, not the energy kind.

But after some time with him, she came to realize he was really more of a teddybear than just a scary bear. He was nice, kind, gentle, and he seemed to have a great deal of care about his allies as well as Luna. Whenever there was someone Luna felt the need to talk to, Hazel would be there. If she ever wanted to know something about Salem, he was more then happy to provide most of the facts. And compared to Watts, he was always patient with her and never berrating her for messing up on her tasks or training. He was always calm and gentle with her, never rushing her, and never scaring her.

When it came to the training she did with Hazel it fell under the line of physical training. From weapon training, muscle training, stamina, endurance, every single thing she needed to make her body physically stronger. Sometimes it would just be a normal training exercise consisting of 100 push ups, 100 sit ups, 100 squats and a 10km run every single time. At other times, like now, she would find herself training with various practice weapons like the wooden sword clutched in her hands.

"Alright, you can take a short break." He said, letting Luna catch her breath as she sweat a little.

Three straight hours of training would put anyone through exhaustion, not to mention the warm clothes she was currently wearing.

It was a pretty standard uniform for the type of weapon's training they were currently doing. It was a basic kendo outfit, one complete with a black kendogi top and red hakama aroudn her waist, one perfectly fit for her size. Hazel himself was wearing his usual clothing, not fretting over the details of his outfit since he was the one teaching Luna how to fight.

"Phew, you're really strong." Luna complimented wiping the sweat from her brow. Like many other times he replied with a normal smile smile, watching her as she caught her breath.

"You're improving quite well, Luna. Salem will be proud to know of your progress." She smiled at this with her usual perky smile.

"You think so?" That was great news to hear! If there was one thing she loved to know it was that she was impressing Salem. For the many things she did, and all the things she received in her life, she wanted to do something that would repay the favor to Salem herself. She was always nice to Luna, compared to some of the horror-like stories of her attitude from the others. They would always go on to say how she never smiled this often until Luna (or as Tyrian put her little kitten) came into her life, her smile being nothing more than a small grin at most. So it was no surprise Luna wanted to do something to return the favor, and she found no better way than making Salem proud of her. "Thanks Hazel. But why do I need to practice using so many weapons?" She glanced around the room once more, equipped with numerous training weapons.

"So you can learn how to fight against them." He replied, walking over to one of the benches with the shorter girl trailing behind him. "Every weapon has it's own strengths and weaknesses. The key to overcoming them is learning the different techniques people would use against you so you can counter them ."

"You mean like fighting styles?" The young Luna wasn't new to this concept. Before all the weapon training she was currently doing, Hazel taught her many different lessons of self-defense training, using nothing more than her bare hands. From akido to simple karate, Luna's favorite being brawler style, there were many different techniques Luna learned from the great mound of muscle. And while she wasn't taught to master any of these techniques, she learned the basic portions of each lesson to get a hand in any form of personal combat.

"Precisely." He nodded. "The only way to learn how to fight against a weapon is to learn what an opponent will do to fight you with it. Like swords, maces, axes-"

"And lances?"

"Heh," he patted Luna's head ruffling her ears as he chuckled, "took the words right out of my mouth."

It wasn't hard for Hazel to warm up to the girl compared to the rest. She was innocent, full of excitement and wonder, and had every desire to want to be of help towards everyone around her. She reminded him all too easily of someone special to him, someone he... knows won't be coming back. Someone he knows would've been overjoyed to meet Luna.

And Luna was far too attentive not to notice the look he gave her from time to time, putting her ears down seeing Hazel sad.

"Is something wrong?"

"What? Oh, no, sorrry. I was just... thinking..."

"About your sister?" His sigh confirmed it. Luna wasn't a stranger about his sister, only to the details pertaining to her. "What was she like?"

"Hmhm, she was great Luna. You kinda remind me of her. She was always full of wonder, wanted to prove herself to others, she was just,.. great." Like many other times he went into detail about her, his expression would start to change from simple and comfortable smile to one filled with regret and sorrow. "She had so much potential to offer the world..."

"I think I can guess what happened to her" Just as she wasent a stranger to his little sister, Hazel knew of Luna's older brother and about he left and never came back

Just like his sister.

"Do you know what happened to her"

"Yes I do Luna, Hunters happened to her. One of her biggest dreams was to become a great Hunter, saving lives and making a name for herself. She wanted to make everyone proud of her! ...But that only lasted so long. She was tempted by them, persuaded that what they were doing was right... but the minute she showed weakness, the moment she needed help the most, they turned their backs on her, and left her for dead."

The look of shock on her face was completely understandable, and he had a hard time comprehending it too. To be honest, most of it wasn't even factual, it was mostly opinion and observation based. Yet he could never forget the dread that filled him upon hearing of his sister's death, the guilt that beriddened him for failing to keep her safe, nor the regret that still haunts him to this day knowing that his sister would never come back. Even after he discovered her mangled corpse in the forest, the dried blood from her person, he refused to believe it.

Yet on that day he wasn't filled with sadness or despair, but anger. Anger towards the Hunters, anger towards everyone who claimed to be at the top of their game and promised to keep one another safe. Why did his sister have to die alone out here? What happened to her so-called "teammates" that were supposed to be at her back?! If they had died alongside her, then at least the grief that fills him would have some meaning, but no. There was no reasoning behind this, no excuse to explain why she had to die out here like an animal. There was nothing but unseething rage he had towards the supposed heroes of this world, who would continue to remember the ones that stayed alive, while leaving the ones left for dead forgotten.

She sacrificed everything for what she believed in, and that belief ended up betraying her. The Hunters ended up betraying her. Ozpin ended up betraying her, the person behind everything to a Hunter. He was the only person he could comprehend responsible for everything that happened to his sister, the only one he could blame.

And he wouldn't be satisfied until he squeezed the life out of Ozpin's very neck.

"That's horrible..." Luna mumbled, nearly sniffling at his story. It did ease his burden somewhat to hear somebody who suffered a similar experience sympathized with his story. She jumped to her feet before him and looked at him with a look of determination. "Let's go beat up those evil hunters right now!"

Adorable. The only word he could use to describe it. She was definitely the kind of kid who grew up on cartoons everyday, another trait shared by his sister. "Hahaha, I think you need a bit more training before taking them on." He replied, patting her head again as he got to his feet. "It's just us against all of them. Even with all the Grimm to help us, it means nothing if any of us die because of it, that'll be one less person to stand up to them."

"I suppose your right to bad there aren't more people like use out there".

"Precisely there's not many people willing to work with the Grimm." With a hearty nod to the girl, he let out a deep breath as he rose to his feet. "Now come on, break times over. Let's practice with another weapon, your choice."

"Really?" That was always fun! There were only so many weapons to choose from that, at times, they would use the same one repeatedly just to make the newer ones more interesting. It was a great way to add a little variety to the day-to-day scheduling. "How about we use practice hammers?"

...

...

"Wrong. Wrong. Wrong. And-"

"Let me guess: wrong?" Luna rolled her eyes as she lied her head on the desk.

"Congrats! You got that one right out of everything else you got wrong." Watts stated, scribbling another incorrect checkmark on the pages.

"You Get way to much pleasure out of this" smirked Luna looking at Watts correcting her work.

Watts was without a doubt the most oppressive person for Luna to get along with. From mannerisms, ettiquette, style, teachings, the ways she learned, how she learned to do things, and what ways she got things done, there was nothing about her that he didn't grade. Even basic things such as breathing or simply walking didn't go by him without him grading her on it. And the part that really annoyed her at first was that he himself claimed it was more annoying for him than it was for her!

To be fair, she didn't entirely blame it on him. His one role as one of her several new "uncles" was to be the teacher. Nothing more, nothing less. And despite his many misgiving for it, he was silenced at the mere whim of a finger, cutting off any and all irritations he had about it and putting him to work on it pronto.

Well, maybe he didn't lose the irritation at least. He was very thorough about all his work and everything he did in his questionable attempts to better Luna. He had no care for the young one other than progress. Like many teachers in the world, he saw her progress as his own. Her failures were his failures no matter how badly he wished against it. So he decided if he was going to be forced to do something for her, they were going to be up to his standards.

And sadly for Luna, he had very specific, detailed, standards.

"Not one single one of these are correct." He continued.

"Are you judging by the answers, or how my handwriting is?" The answer wouldn't have surprised her if it was the latter, which is exactly what she got.

"The handwriting of course." Of course. "I've seen better handwriting from a one-armed kangaroo!"

"Probably married her too..." She mumbled.

"What was that?"

"Nothing" She feigned innocence quickly with a nervous smile. He just furrowed his brow again as he went back to work.

It really didn't make any sense to her. A lot of things didn't make sense to her. Why was he like this? He was one of the rudest people she's ever known, more than ten million uncle Romans put together! Did he like acting this way? What was his deal?!

...Come to think of it, what was his deal?

"Hey Uncle Watts?"

"Excuse me?" He raised his brow again, earning another typical roll of the eyes from his unfortunate student.

"Sorry. Professor Watts, I have a question."

"Yes?"

"Why aren't you a real professor?" For the first time ever, she found a question that made him stop writing about how imperfect she is.

"I beg your pardon?" He had to admit, the girl did find a question that piqued his curiosity.

"I mean, you always go on and on about studying this, observing that, and everything. Why didn't you just become a regular professor or scientist instead of choosing to do all this?"

"..." Uh oh, the silent stare.

Watts had four different emotions which Luna came to learn about. First, was the grimly, no pun intended, stare. Very few things ever shuttered Watts' core, and if something did, it was bad. Two, the irritant scowl. It was actually a pretty common look on him, at least two-thirds of his faces usually consisted of it. She came to call it his "Normal face", since it never looked any worse or better no matter how many times she saw him. Third was the cocky smirk face this happened whenever he thoroughly annoyed someone

The forth face, however, was something of a very rare sight. It was the face of intrigue. It was a much more rare sight than that of a shooting star for Luna, and considering that only accounts for two times, that's saying a lot. At least provided they weren't actually helicopors again like the several times she got those two mixed up.

"You... think I wanted to be here?" His reaction came as a bit of a surprise to her.

"Well... yeah... until you said that..." She said, twiddling her thumbs together.

"Little miss Fall, I didn't want any part of this life." The professor stated, stepping out of his chair as he walked over to the white board with his back turned to her. "I didn't want anything to do with all this Grimm stuff. Why I never even wanted to take part of any war or conumdrum the rest of you find yourselves in."

"Then why are you here?"

"Because I..." He sighed, slowly descending into the the cushioned chair at his personal desk. "Because I had no other choice."

"Choice?" The air felt a little thick as the tension began to sink in. Something about his past troubled him, something Luna had never heard about before.

"In this world Luna, you'll come across two different forms of people- those who believe in you, and those who don't."

"i'm pretty sure there's more than those two types of people you know..." With this retort, she earned that always faithful, always expectant look she came to know of him.

Annoyance.

"Do you want to hear the rest of the story or don't you?"

"Yes please." She actually did want to hear the rest of the story. Not entirely out of interest though, mostly just to get out of doing anymore paperwork for the day.

"Hmph, anyway, as I was saying, they're the only two kind of people that exist around here. People who believe in you and those who don't. The only ones different from them is yourself."

That was something Luna could understand. If there's one thing she constantly learned from her many cartoons and superhero shows, it's that you didn't have to be anything you didn't want to. You could be your own hero or villain, good or bad, right and wrong person. You never had to be what everyone else wanted you to be.

"I was actually a scientist for several different companies, including a position as one of Atlas' head science divisions."

"That sounds interesting." Out of the many things she did learn on a daily basis, one of her favorite things to learn were about Grimm and weapons, and military-related weapons were no exception.

The only thing she hated learning about were the stupid reasons people went to war to begin with. If the world was truly as deceitful as her grandmother told her to be, then she was more than glad to bring a change to it. Watts himself grew a small grin at her remark.

"Interesting doesn't even begin to cover it." He leanred back in his own chair, recollecting every grand moment of his previous life. "I had everything back then. Seniority, respect, resources, everything I could've wanted!" Luna watched closely at his expression, noticing the gleaming shine in his eye slowly fade as he slumped back into his chair.

"What happened to it?"

"...Ozpin happened." The Ozpin. One ofher granny's oldest enemies. To the public he's just the nice coffee loving headmaster of Beacon. But to everyone here he was a cold hearted monster. She could think of no better way to help her family than exposing him for the monster he was, like her family always dreamed of.

Which was still some time to come.

"Nobody else believed me when I told them of the experiments he had done, I will admit I did take part in some..." Watts closed his eyes taking a deep breath "questionable experiments, but the ones that man no that monster had use conducting they were awful"

"But why didn't they believe you?"

"It would've been better if they left it at just that. I was ridiculed, humiliated, mocked, I lost all my respect and credibility, I was practically kicked out of Atlas altogether! Nobody wanted anything more to do with me... that's when Salem found me."

"Heh heh, that's granny for you." She kicked her legs a little waging her tail in laughter. It was almost amusing to the professor, noting how Luna truly had the innocence of a child despite living alongside Salem for these past months.

"She was the only one who believed me, and the only one willing to provide the resources I needed to conduct my research, so what choice did I have? Even if it meant surrounding myself with darkness, I was going to make the truth known, and I'm going to make those who mocked me pay for it."

"They sound like morons." They truly did to her. What the heck was wrong with these people? Someone said they had information about something as awful as the experiments Ozpin was performing. Sure it sounded crazy, it would've been to anyone if they said the headmaster of Beacon turned out to be evil, but if he assured them he had proof of it and they didn't give him the chance to prove it, then they were far worse than Watts had ever been to her. In fact, comparing the two he was the nice one out of any of the scientists! What a bunch of assholes!

Like the previous comment, he found himself grinning at her remark. "Idiots indeed..." Maybe this is why Salem kept the girl around. It was one of the biggest mysteries he had yet to solve in his lifetime, never being able to fathom why someone like Salem would keep a girl as young as Luna within this domain, at least not until now. She had a peculiar air about her, a sense of decency. At the very least, she wasn't as annoying as he saw her to be. Glancing over at the clock on the wall, he gave a small shrug while looking over the papers in his hand. "You can go for the evening."

"Huh?" Normally, that would be the greatest thing to ever hear from someone like him! There were only so many hours in a day, specifically three, that you could devote your attention to a class-like setting. But not once since meeting him had he ever let class out early, even a simple five minutes.

"Now? Why early?"

"Do you want to leave early or do I need to assign you another fifty pages of reading tonight?" His threat was made clear as all color drained from the girl's face.

"Point made. See ya." And like any child terrified of school, she quickly gathered her belongings and zipped out of the room. He couldn't help but smirk at her behavior as he looked over her work once more.

At least she was quirky.

...

...

"Not too far, Luna." Salem said as the two walked.

The outside of Salem's domain was truly beautiful to the fourteen-year-old, much to the surprise of the leader of darkness herself. She thought the girl would be too terrified at first to walk upon these grounds, the rust-colored grounds beneath them almost as red as blood. There was never any feeling of clarity or peace within this realm, only darkness and despair.

Yet to the child before her, all she could see was a simple place of wonder and excitement. She loved the sight of the beautiful sparkly sky, and the amazing crystals that protruded from the ground. Having been within this Grimm-infested world of Salem's for nearly a year now, she was used to the sight of the dangerous creatures, seeing them no scarier than the average house cat by this point.

At least if she was with her grandmother, anyway.

"Woooow..." Luna oohed and awed as she sightseed, standing atop one of the many purple crystals.

"Luna." Salem called over again. luna just smiled to her as she ran to her side, The "grandmother" couldn't help smiling a little herself, taking the teenagers hand as the two walked down the path.

"Do you like it here, Luna?"

"Mhhm!" Luna nodded with a smile. "It's really pretty here, Granny Salem!"

"Hmhm, Luna, what have I told you about that?" She still chuckled despite the teens mistake.

"Oh...sorry Gra- I mean, Salem." She knew her grandmother never liked actually being called "Granny" or "Grandma", and not just for personal reasons either. She had an order to run, and the last thing she needed was embarassing nicknames on the teens part.

All the same, Salem just chuckled to herself as she continued walking hand in hand. "It's alright dear, just keep it between the two of us, ok?"

"Okie dokie!"

These were a few moments of Salem's life that she found peaceful, something she always had to thank the young one for. Ever sicne Luna came into her life, she's felt more at peace than ever before. There were still some things she needed to get used to, though.

For one, she had to work on not frightening the teen so much. Before, she would constantly bark out orders on a daily basis, whether the teen was in the room or not, and it would frighten her with the tone or faces she made that would terrify the girl. Honestly, at first, she didn't actually mind that fact either. She wanted Luna to grow up brave and strong, so a little fear was alright to her in her book. At least that was the case until Luna started trying to avoid Salem out of fear, forcing her to better herself in how she spoke.

The second thing she needed to get used to was how strong the girl was her physical strength was truly terrifying considering that during a training session with Tyrian she got mad when he kept dodging she managed to punch a massive hole in the wall. Though unlike her mother, Luna had little fighting experience since coming into her life, and had been a relatively peaceful life until Cinder brought Luna over to stay. Salem wasted no time trying to bring Luna into the fold, having Hazel train her daily, having Watts teach her everything he could, and having Tyrian stay as far away as possible Incase of another insadent.

It took no sooner than three weeks before the Luna found herself sick with a fever, It left Salem with an unfamiliar case of guilt for the girl, staying by her bedside until the teen slept again with her illness.

The last thing she needed to get used to was that Luna was... Luna. She wasn't like her mother at all, except for the compassion she held for things. She wasn't coldhearted, she had many things to fear, she was still easily scared, and she never knew what it was like to not have a family, not one that didn't love her.

On a whole, they were all things that made Luna especially weak, everything that made her vulnerable. They were everything Salem resented, cursed, wished to be rid of. That's why it hurt her all the same when she pictured Luna without these things.

"So, how are your studies going, Luna?" Despite living in the castle together, she rarely had time to chat with Luna in person, save for meals together and the occasional lesson.

"Pretty good." The child tapped her chin in thought. "Hazel says I'm getting really strong and no matter what Watts says I think he's warming up to me though he does keep finding things wrong with my lessons even if I get them all right."

"He's a bit of a perfectionist, so you'll have to excuse his behavior."

"It's okay. He's not threatening me with his ruler or something anymore ever since I burnt it…… by accident of course."

"I see... That's good to hear." It truly was. She didn't want to continue hearing about how he's been scaring the girl like that after the talk she had with him. "Have you been enjoying your time with the Grimm?"

"Oh yeah!" That always got Luna excited. She found it fun to talk about the numerous types of Grimm around Salem's fortress. From the simple bug ones to the large two-headed snakes, they were all interesting to the girl. "Yesterday I played with a biiiiig Ursa, a lot bigger than the other ones. I think it was one of those Alpha ones I called him Freddie."

"Hmhm, very good. Do you remember what a boarbatusk's weakness is?"

"The underbelly! The top part's too hard, that's why it likes to roll up into a ball."

"I think it's more about staying alive than simply having fun, dear." It was amusing to hear Luna describe it as something it likes to do. "How about this one? Do you know why Beowulfs are so slow?"

"Granny, you're trying to trick me!" She chuckled. "Beowulfs are really fast, not slow. They hunt in packs, and the older ones are a lot smarter than the younger ones."

"Heh, you caught me." This was nice. Just plain, simple, nice. Just her, Luna, walking hand in hand as she showed her the outside world of her domain. It was about as calming as you could get in a land infested by the hundreds with Grimm. And like all peaceful moments of Salem's life...

It wasn't going to last.

"So, can you control all the Grimm, Gran?" Luna asked tilting her head curiously.

"Heh, interesting question." She looked down at the child in her hand with the same curiosity. "What brings this up?"

"Well, I just thought you could control them and everything, right? You're the Queen of Grimm like Uncle Watts said, right?"

"Well... Yes Luna, I suppose that's one way to look at it. But it's really a matter of knowing of their existence."

"Knowing if they exist?"

"Yes, Luna." Luna watched as her grandmother suddenly came to a halt from their little trek, walking over to one of the nearby crystals. It only took a simple smack with the bunt of her wrist to shatter the tip of the standing crystal, breaking into several large shards which slowly dropped into the leader's palm, walking back to the young child as she kneeled to her level. "Now, without looking at the crystals, how many do you suppose I have in my hand?"

Luna looked at the closed palm, trying to make an estimate of how many she could actually hold in her hand "Um... I dunno like... maybe seven?" Salem just smiled at this as she opened her palm, revealing 11 in tact shattered crystals. "Oh... guess not."

"Do you know why you got the answer wrong, Luna?" She asked standing up again, continuing the walk.

"Umm... because it just was?" Luna shrugged, unable to tell where or what she was trying to get at.

"It's because you weren't aware of it." She corrected. After a few moments, Luna slowly nodded as the realization finally came to her.

"Oooh..."

"It's a matter of knowing if a Grimm exists or not. If I so much as see them, then I know they exist, and then I can control them. That's why I come out here at least three times a day, to watch as they're born so I know what exists and what doesn't." She explained. "At the same time, there's Grimm all over the world, Luna. Do you know how many people are on this planet right now?"

"Not really. Millions? Maybe a billion or two?" It was fun seeing the girl try and think of answers to life's biggest mysteries.

"Exactly. You don't know how many people there are in the world or where they are. At the same time, I don't know how many Grimm there are around the world."

"But you can find them with other Grimm, right?"

"Very good." She comened patting her head. "If I see one through a Grimm's eye, I can control it too. But I have to have control of one that's already far away, and the process can usually take hours to find a specific one in a specific place, even if I concentrate."

"So you can control Grimm, but only if you know of them... right?"

"Yes, Luna."

"Is that what happened to my mom did the Grimm kill her?"

"I-" Salem froze at the statement, turning herself around to look at the frowning girl herself. Out of the many things she asked her about so far, that was the last thing she would ever expect. Come to think of it, she never would've expected that at all! The question troubled Salem to no end, only more knowing this line of questioning would hurt the both of them. "Luna, where did you hear about that?"

"Tyrian told me after I told him a story my brother told me." Of course. "He said you killed her cause she was just another evil huntress..." She began to tear up, sniffling a little.

The same story was playing in her head it may have been fuzzy but she still remembered it clear as day

(Flashback)

The young Luna looked up to her brother tearing up, she had just gotten through the latest beating season and the same thought circled through her head

"Why bro, why did mom go away, why are we here"

"I'm sorry Sis, I know it's bad but remember mom is a huntress I bet she's out there beating up all the Grimm"

"Really?"

"Yeah! I know she's out there"

Upon hearing this one of the caretakers walked over her usual scowl on her face at the sight of Luna

"Shade, What have we told you about lying" at this she began to smirk "you know full well that she's dead and just like the animal she was she was feed to the Grimm"

"What? No!, that can't be true" Luna yelped breaking into small tears

"Believe it or not you stupid animal but from what Ozpin said in the news report she died simple as that"

At this she walked away and everything went black

(Flashback end)

"So is it True did you send the Grimm to kill my mom"

"Tyrian..." She wanted to do nothing more than show the rage building inside of her, the fire burning in her eyes, she was going to have to have a talk with Tyrian since he desided to be an idiot. Yet she knew the minute she did, Luna would only be more terrified of her than she was now. RIght now, the only thing she could bother doing was figure out how to explain this to her, and contemplate the massive amount of disappointment she was going to relay to Tyrian. "Look, what-"

"Please don't lie Gran..." The teen requested as she sniffled. "I want to trust the next thing you say... p-please don't lie about it..."

"Luna..." This is what she hated, why she detested growing closer to the child. What she did, what she does, what she plans, they were all with an evil, merciless, heart. She needed to do it, anyone with a different kind of heart wouldn't be able to do the kinds of things she does. She needed to be cold, hold true onto her conviction if she ever desired to bring her plans to fruition.

That's what made Luna the most troubling person she's met. She didn't want to betray her trust, she actually found herself slowly coming to care for the girl. Was it all a trick? Was it all just a part of her semblance? If she bothered to delve deeper into the child's mind, she would know the truth right away. The only setback to using this method was the intense pain it required her to put Luna under, something she would never want to do.

She truly hated this child for the love she was growing for her.

"Luna, you want to know the truth?" She child couldn't audibly respond as her words became small sobs. The only thing she managed to do was nod her head slowly up and down. "The truth is... I don't know." Luna blinked at the given answer,

"Huh?" Was she being serious, or was she lying again? She knew Salem cared for her, so there was no telling how much of her words she could trust. If she did lie to her, it would at least tell her Salem cared enough for her to lie for her sake. But this was something she needed to know, or she would never be able to live peacefully with the doubt clouding her mind.

"Whatever happened with your mother, I was completely unaware of what transpired that night or even if the Grimm attacked her."

"Would that have made a difference?" She knew much about Salem, some things more than the rest of them knew. "You hate the Hunters and Huntresses... and my mom was a Huntress..."

She gently lifted the teens chin with her finger, turning her head to look at her teary face with a genuine smile. "Luna I can honestly say there's no way I would've killed her that night."

"W...Why?" She needed to know. She needed to hear the truth. And even if she just lied to her about it right now, she needed some form of comfort.

"Because she cared deeply about you." Truth. That was the truth of the matter. It was one of the few cold secrets of her life that she kept from many of the others, the most faithful of followers and devotees. Not Hazel, Watts, nor Tyrian knew of this truth, and she intended to keep it that way. It was one of the most unbearable pains she grew accustomed to living with for the majority of her life, and would continue to be burdened with that fact for the many years to come. "You remember the story I told you about, about my past?"

"Mh hm..." Luna wiped her tears a bit as she sniffed. "You told me later it really happened to you."

"I can tell your mother was just like my own, Luna. Caring, protective, wanting to keep you safe from the world. There's no way I would've been capable of bringing myself to harm a mother like that, not one as caring as my own."

"You... You promise...?" Salem affirmed it with a nod.

"I pro-!" She was cut off. No force on Remnant would've prevented her surprise from when Luna threw her arms around her, crying softly into her shoulders. Why did this child have to cause her so much grief? Why did Tyrian have to blab about her mother like that?. She was riddled with disappointment from Tyrian, one she would make sure he felt when this was all over. Because thanks to him, she had to give Luna her biggest lie.

Not that she was responsible for her mothers death mind you. She lied to the sweet girl before her and told her she wouldn't have killed her mother under the conditions she gave her. Luna was right about her from the beginning. She hated everything that inspired hope for the world after what she's been through, everything they seemingly do in a place like this. She hated the Hunters, Ozpin, and Luna's mother was no exception. And just as she feared, her heart ached from this one true lie.

She would've killed her mother no matter the conditions of that night, whether or not she knew the small girl in the mother's arms would've been Luna... at least, she thinks she would ha-

Salem quickly shook the thoughts out of her head. Right now the last thing she wanted was to be seen with the sniffling girl crying into her shoulders, a fact that would've been a bit harder for anyone else to come across to since they were nearly a good mile out from her domain by now.

"Now, Luna," Salem spoke up again as she rose to her feet, "I want to show you the surprise I had up ahead. I think you might like it." Luna nodded to her as she wiped away the rest of her tears, taking her hand once more as she walked by her side.

The side of someone she trusted.

The two continued walking until they made it to a canyon filled with odd looking holes filled with some sort of odd goo

"This is were the Grimm are born!" She realized with excitement.

"Yes. It is from these pools that the Grimm are born from, and it is from here my army is made." Salem said, kneeling down to the girl's side as she looked into the pool.

"Wow... so do they all come from this spot?"

"Not exactly, dear. These are but some of many pools scattered across the world. It would be a bit tricky spreading them all throughout the world otherwise." She explained. That made some sense to the girl. It would be hard to spread these Grimm across the world if they all came from this one location

"Cool! How many of these things are there?"

"At this point, it's quite hard for me to say." That was a first. She was always so gifted with her knowledge and lessons when it came to the Grimm. Hearing her saying anything close to not knowing something was almost shocking to hear. "I've spent a long portion of my life within this place, Luna. Grimm withholding, I've had little means of communicating or interacting with the world around us. I don't remember the last time I ever left this place."

"Except for the Christmas you spent with us." Luna cheekily reminded, earning a small smile from the leader of Grimm.

That was something Luna could find relatable to the semi-motherly figure herself. Much like Salem, Luna has had very little interaction with the outside world, save for any time she spent with Blake when she was younger. Even by those standards, she rarely ever went out on her own back when she lived with her mother, understanding that Cinder was just very protective of her and worried of her discovery. At this point, Luna herself feared anyone ever recognizing her, knowing how they might take her away from her new family and the people she came to love.

It was something that took Luna several months of living here to realize, previously assuming this was all punishment or anger her mother had towards her. Until she realized it herself, she spent nearly a week filled with sadness and regret, always wondering how angry she made her mother to make her practically abandon her in this place. It was thanks to the constant company and support of her loving grandma that she came to understand the purpose behind all this, and how dearly her mother truly loved her.

"And," Salem continued, "it has one more special quality to it." At this, the girl watched as she slowly lowered her hand to the pool, stopping once the strange black liquid brushed against the tip of her fingers. Closing her eyes as Luna watched, she concentrated as she worked her own magic, Luna continuing to wonder what her granny was attempting to do. After a mere ten seconds of waiting, Luna's attention shifted to the pool itself as a strange bubbling suddenly began erupting around Salem's fingertips, at which point Salem dipped the rest of her hand into the pool itself.

What on Remnant was she doing? Was it safe to dip her hands into the pool to begin with? She had some understanding of her granny's power, knowing the woman could control the Grimm as long as she was aware of their presence. But what about when they were still being born? Could she still command the Grimm before they were actually born? Better yet, did her grandmother even know when a Grimm was born or how long between pauses it took for a Grimm to rise from the pool? The worry came from the fact a Grimm could possibly attack her before her grandmother was aware of their existence. She couldn't even tell if they refrained from attacking her from the moment they met her, or if Salem needed to be aware of their presence first.

After another thirty seconds had past, Salem finally opened her eyes again as she slowly pulled her hand out of the pool, along with a strange glob of the black substance which slowly dripped from her hands. Luna blinked in curiosity as she leaned a little closer to the substance as it started shaking.

Slowly Luna's face of curiosity changed from bewilderment to joy as a figure started to form from the strange substance, eventually forming into a small black bird that look like a tiny Nevermore.

"You can make Grimm too!" Luna's squeal of surprise warmed Salem's heart again as she chuckled softly. This teens excitement was always a humorous thing to watch for the coldhearted woman.

"Squawk!" The tiny bird chirped, ruffling it's feathers as it shook off the remaining goo. Luna giggled aloud as she accepted the tiny bird jumping from Salem's hand. The small bird tilted it's head in a jittery fashion, Luna giggling louder as it pecked around her palm ticklishly.

This was amazing! Incredible! Her grandmother could command Grimm as well as create them! Ooh! What kind of Grimm could she make? Could she make more Corrán's? Could she make a Corrán with wings? How about a Freddie with wings! Then they could fly her through the sky like a bird!

"So..." Salem's words caught Luna's attention again, wondering what words her grandmother had to say to her. What she was about to offer her would fill Luna with overflowing joy.

"Would you like to try it?"

...

...

"Luna?"

"Gah!" Luna yelped with a jump, suddenly falling backwards in her chair and landing with an audible thud. "Ow..."

The scene was becoming a norm for the Cat Faunus known as Blake, the girl scratching her chin feeling somewhat embarrassed for her friend, one she was just fine with all the same.

With her schedule, things usually had a certain order to how the weekends would go. She would get up, look around, get dressed, then look around for Luna until she found her dozing off in the library herself. At first she was nearly terrified when Luna suddenly went missing the first time she disappeared, and nowadays she couldn't find her anywhere else except for the library during the weekends.

Sure, she was on a mission but that doesn't mean she can't have some free time. It was no surprise that school bored her to no end. Most of the time she knew of Luna's early life, she was always happy and easily excited, playing with her sister and mother more times in the week than not, only having a tutor she knew about for a year or two for two days of the week at most which bored her as well cause she already knew everything the tutor taught her. Other than that, she spent most of her time just having fun and playing around on a daily basis.

But here, she was something else. She was determined, focused, still entirely full of energy and very energetic, and constantly reading about the school, and if there was ever any doubt, the latest two-foot textbook in front of her told her otherwise.

"Your really determined aren't you?" Blake asked, skimming the numerous pages of the large book.

"Ugh, I'm just... yeah I guess..." Luna mumbled, slouching on the book once more.

"Hehe?" Slowly but surely, a small, simple, smirk began growing on Blake's face as she turned to a map presented in the book, covering both pages as it showed the outline of the entire academy.

"Okay thats it"

"What's it?" Luna asked after a yawn, blinking herself awake for the morning.

"You are taking a break from investigating." The announcement snapped Luna wide awake along with her eyes.

Luna puffed out her cheeks "No I'm not!"

"Heh, Luna, you can't say no to this." She knew Luna. Luna knew Blake. And she feared the Faunus as she slowly walked closer to her, face never losing an ounce of attention. "And I know what you weakness is..."

"Y-You do?"

This was bad. No, scratch that. This was beyond bad! What was Blake planning?, why was she so determined to delay her investigation, and most importantly what is she doing with her hands

"So we gonna do this the easy way or the hard way..." Luna's fear only grew as Blake walked closer. "You goof. You're still the same little Luna I grew up with, so I know exactly how to make you cave."

"Blake don't you dare do what I think your gonna do?" Oh dear god.

"Only if you agree to come with me and the team into town."

It wasent the worst idea and she had been getting annoyed with this book so maybe. The announcement brought back many different memories from when Blake and Luna were still kids, probably around nine years old at the time when Blake was still ten. Whenever they had the opportunity and when Neo was the one watching over them, they would often head down to the park use their imaginations and pretend they were pirates or famous adventurers, exploring the entirety of the playground trying to find secret treasure. Naturally, this resulted in many complaints from several disturbed parents who wanted an explanation as to why kids were suddenly throwing sand and rocks literally everywhere indangering there kids in the process.

But she was on a mission and no matter how badly she wanted to go shopping, she had to control herself

"Blake you know I have to research" said Luna putting on ironically her best puppy eyes

"Hard way it is." Blake looked at Luna with a look of pure evil. As she began to tickle the tiger faunes relentlessly

"Hahahahaha noooo pleas… Blake……….stooooooop!!!"

"I'll stop when you agree to come with use" said Blake giving a evil smirk

"Fine, fine hahahah I'll go, I'll go just…..please…….stop……..tickliiinng meeeeee!!!!"

With that Blake stopped ticking Luna keeping the smirk "see was that so hard"

Luna puffed out her cheeks looking at Blake with the furiousty of a thozand kittens "you know I cant handle being tickled, that was a dirty move even for you"

"I know but you agreed to come along so go get ready"

"Ugggh fine, but no more tickling"

"No promises"


	16. Chapter 16

The weekend, one of the most magical times of every child's life. Whether they be kid, teen, or near-adult, the weekend brought absolute fun for many people around the world. There were several unique things that the weekend always brought. One was, obviously, fun. The weekend was the time to go out and explore the world, see new places, meet many people! You could lounge it out in the sunny beaches, shop to your hearts content at the malls, or just spend a quiet evening at home and relax your troubles away until the weekdays start again.

The other fun thing to do was having vacations. Just because you were limited between two to three days worth of time off on a weekly basis didn't mean you couldn't go out and enjoy yourself to your leisure. Some vacations could be limited to just a few days worth and you would still feel fantastic for the experience! From sunny climates to memorable memorials, there was literally no end to the number of places you could visit, and as time went on, so to would the wonders of the world that would come and go.

It truly was always changing.

Above all weekend was just a means to relax. Sometimes you wouldn't get relaxation, but those would be fixed with the following weekends that were sure to follow. And on the off chance you still didn't feel relaxed... well you were kind of on your own. All in all, it was a time to simply have fun and enjoy what life had to offer. And on this particular outing, the nine friends found themselves being greeted to signs and banners being displayed all throughout the city of Vale, leaving a very happy impression on one particular Schnee girl.

"The Vytal Festival!" Weiss' eyes sparkled as she smiled. Among the eight friends she seemed to be the most excited, a sight that terrified several of the individuals.

"Jeez Weiss, I've never seen you smile so much..." Ruby could feel her skin creeping up on her as she hugged herself, the goosebumps giving her the chills. "It's kind of creepy..."

"Wanna know something creepier? This is the longest I've seen her smile since meeting her, and I've seen her sneeze and fart at the same time once." Luna commented with a slight joke. The small chuckle she earned from Ruby was enough for her.

She couldn't help it. Every time she came close to this girl, she felt a strange sense of familiarity. She couldn't describe it. There was just something about this young girl before her that made her want to protect her or to see her happy?

"Would you quit making up stories, Luna?" Weiss huffed with a small blush. She may have sneezed once audibly, due to being caught in the middle of a bunch of chuckles, but she refuses to let rumors spread that she passed gas! Especially in public. "And why wouldn't I be smiling at a time like this? This entire festival is dedicated to dozens of cultures throughout the world!"

"Festival...?" Luna questioned tilting her head. After spending so much time with the innocence that was Luna Fall, nothing about her curiosity to the everyday things of life surprised the rest of the group anymore, and a festival was no exception.

"It's pretty much just a big party thrown by the city." Blake explained as the friends continued to walk.

"There'll be parades and lots of food!" Nora cheered pumping her fists.

"As well as cultural esthetics such as dancing and festivities." Ren added.

"And most of all, the Vytal Tournament!" Jaune announced. Much like Weiss had at the start of their arrival, Luna's eyes were next to light up.

"A tournament?!" She stammered, drool leaking from her mouth like a waterfall. Blake casually just pushed her jaw up to the top of her mouth, having done this several times since coming here.

"Oh yes, quite a big one in fact." Pyrrha explained as she nodded to the youngest member. "It's held every two years, and hosts numerous students from many different academies from the world over."

"You mean we get to fight students from across the world!?" Luna stammered.

"Hmph, if we make it past the first round, you might." The tone in Jaunes voice sounded smug, a surprising difference compared to his usual persona. Luna stared back at the increasingly smug look the white knight was giving her, giving him her own confident look as she squeezed her fist.

"Is that a challenge I hear?" That was both a personal and honest question from Luna. This was Jaune they were talking to after all, and if there's one thing Luna grew accustomed to, it's that Jaune was awful gambler.

"I will admit it's a shame Weiss won't be sharing our victory Luna, but if it's any consolation, I'll be sure to give you a pat on the back when our team wins." He gloated.

Of course. How could Luna have forgotten, or the rest of them for that matter? One by one the members of Team RSYBL and JNPR looked at one another with expectant faces, each one looking more excited than the last. Blake and Ren nodded to each other, Pyrrha and Weiss looked back to each other in more of a playful manner, Nora and Yang staring at each other both pounding there fists, and Ruby and Luna fist bumped smirking to Jaune who returned with a cocky one.

This wasn't just going to pit the against various students from the schools across the world, this would pit themselves against the very friends they made with one another across Beacon. Friends would be come enemies, enemies would become Rivals.

Everything was exciting, everything was pleasant. If only this damn lab wasn't looming over Luna's mind!

The previous combined with the oncoming sound of a ship horn going off caught everyone's attention, finally realizing they were all lead to the docks. Many faces turned to look at the endless ocean as one of the boats slowly pulled in, some faces with curiosity, others, namely Weiss's, with disgust at the smell.

"Bltegh, it smells like fish." She mumbled plugging her nose. She didn't need to look to tell Luna was drooling now at, what was to her, a pleasant scent. Stereotyping her thinking the smell of fish was driving her crazy while she kept her desire of fish to herself.

"I've heard that students from Vacuo would finally be arriving by ship today." Weiss said as she lead the group closer to the bay. "And as a representative of Beacon I feel as though it's my solemn duty to welcome them to this fine kingdom."

"In other words she wants to spy on them to get the upper hand." Yang clarified rolling her eyes.

"You can't prove that!" This earned her another grumble from the member of team RSYBL, annoyed that she'd continue to make another joke just for the sake of amusing one or two students.

"Why would she need to prove it if it's not true, Weiss?" Ruby teased. This was followed by several bouts of chuckles from the members of both teams, causing Weiss' face to flush as she turned away.

"Heheheheh..."

Yeah, this was nice.

Just Luna, her fellow teammates, her friends, all bunched together like a big ol' happy family. Looking back on it, she guessed not all Hunters were bad, at least not the ones training to become Hunters. Maybe they were innocent people being tricked into becoming what they were? Maybe she could find a way to convince them all to turn away from their evil paths and save them before it was too late? Who knows, Salem wouldn't mind a few more helping hands in the world after all, and her friends turning their back on Ozpin would definitely make a great first impression on her!

At the very least, she could try to convince Blake of all people to come play with the big kids. She needed to convince her most of all, once she managed to expose Ozpin. She was the one person she hoped to save out of everybody around here.

"Heh heh...Whoa." Ruby's giggling came to an abrupt halt as she suddenly froze in place.

"Ruby?" Nora paused looking in the direction she was facing. Each of their friends came to the same act as their attentions were drawn to the end of the street.

It was like any scene to be expected. The road was bustling with numerous faces walking about as they, along with the group of friends, all walked along the road to the center of the gathering. At the very end of the street, along with the curious citizens that surrounded it, was the scene of a crime. Right at the end of the road they could see several policemen and detectives as they tried to keep the people from getting too close to the scene for their own safety and to preserve the crime scene.

Luna the only one of group to walk the slowest to the scene. It didn't surprise her in any shape or form at what was ahead. Just from the several yards she was at, she could already hear the talks and gossip amongst the detectives going on about another Dust Shop that was hit. As expected, she heard the usual lines of dialogue, such as "they didn't take the money", and "why did they only take the dust?" and the many variances that went along with them. There was nobody else capable of such a crime except her favorite uncle, Roman Torchwick.

Actually come to think of it, she wondered how he was doing. Out of the many weekly updates she's discussed with her mother, the one thing she's never asked her about was how Roman himself was doing,

She wanted to tell him everything that was going on either, She wanted nothing more than to bring him into the loop, at least as far as her mom was. Sadly Salem told her against such an idea, stating how she wanted him to prove himself first to her even after all he's done to help support Cinder's cause till now. And she couldn't blame her for being so suspicious of people, given her line of work and her appearance.

"That's the sixth Dust shop this month alone." One of the detectives sighed. Once again a Dust shop had been hit, and there was no amount of evidence to point them in the right direction.

"Excuse me, Officer?" Ren spoke as he approached one of the officers. "What exactly happened here?"

"Pretty much what you see." He replied looking back to the scene. "Another robbery. The robbers basically hit the place and dashed before anyone could show up."

"Don't you have security footage of who did it?" Jaune asked looking around.

"That was the first thing we checked. Unfortunately we found the cameras pretty much fried up, not that it matters much."

"What makes you say that?" Pyrrha wondered.

"We're pretty sure this was done by the White Fang, those guys have been spotted hitting up shops recently." The detective stated. "We're not equipped to deal with something that big, not with our pay." As the detectives walked off for further investigation, Weiss approached the scene with a look of disgust on her face.

"Hmph, White Fang. What an awful bunch of degenerates." She grumbled. Almost immediately a look of consern crossed Luna's face as she saw Blake ready to respond.

"What's your problem?!" Blake instantly snapped back, walking up to her.

"Crap..." Luna gulped. This was bad. The many weeks the two slowly spent getting used to each other was about to be undone by one simple event.

"My problem?" Weiss scoffed. "I simply don't care for the criminally insane!"

"Criminally insane? The White Fang aren't a bunch of psychopaths as you make them out to be." Blake growled.

"Oh, right, and the giant hole in the wall of this dust shop clearly shows sanity on their part!" She retorted rolling her eyes.

"Whoa whoa whoa, hey guys, let's just calm down for a second." Yang tried to intervene as she moved between them.

"Yeah, let's just go back to the docks or something and have fun." Nora agreed trying to diffuse the situation. Sadly neither of their attempts were met with credible results.

"Blasting a hole in wall doesn't make them insane, just... unethical." Blake continued to argue as she crossed her arms.

"Oh, yeah, right. Unethical, how could I forget?" Weiss mocked rolling her eyes. "This isn't them on a bad day, this is just them taking their stress out on public property."

"Neither argument explains why they would rob a dust shop." Ren pointed out, rubbing his chin trying to think.

"Who cares about the reason? That doesn't change the fact that the White Fang are still scum! They're nothing but a bunch of crooked Faunus who only know how to cheat, lie, and steal!" As Weiss finished a look of mild anger spread across Luna's face.

"That's... not necessarily true..."

"Hey! Stop that Faunus!" As if to prove to the world on the contrary, the cries of help were rung through everybody within earshot as the eight friends turned to the dock. None of them hesitated to run towards the fences surrounding the roads near the ocean as they watched the scene unfold.

To their surprise, or not given the recent debate, they were all witnesses to the sight of a strange Faunus running across the side of a ship being chased by several of the ship's crew who tried to apprehend the stowaway. The Faunus was a strange teen with golden blonde hair with a similar colored tail, apparently being a form of monkey Faunus, who simply grinned back with a cheeky smile as he watched the slow shipmates' pitiful attempts at capturing him.

"Thanks for the ride guys! Hehe." He teased, wasting no time to jump from the ship just as the crew reached him. He barely cared for the dilemma he caused for himself as he took no more than five yards worth of feet ahead of him, perching himself upon a nearby streetlamp and hanging from his tail as he began peeling a banana.

"You no-good stowaway!" Another of the ships crew shouted as they tried running off the ship to give chase.

"Hey, a no-good stowaway would've been caught! I'm a great stowaway." He taunted as he ate. His meal was rudely interrupted as he dodged his head to the side of an incoming rock. Surprisingly, the detectives from earlier caught wind of the Faunus' no-good deeds, blocking the way further up the docks as they looked up to him.

"Hey! Get down from there this instant!" The Shades ordered. Like any model citizen of the law the Faunus responded appropriately, casually tossing the discarded banana peel right at his face. He paid no mind to the grumbling detective as he leapt gracefully from the streetlamp right over the two detectives, quickly dashing up the stairs and passed the curious group of friends as he ran past them all. For a mere moment, time seemed to slow down for Blake as she caught sight of the Faunus' face, the teen giving her a strange wink before running right past her.

This had been the strangest of days to say the least.

"...Well, there goes the competition." Pyrrha commented. She had no idea if she should be curious about the mysterious stowaway or troubled that a potential criminal is running within the city.

'Ergh... Come on! We have to chase after him!" Weiss declared running after him. Followed by Team JNPR, Ruby and Yang gave a small shrug to each other before giving chase as well. The only two left behind from all of this were Luna and Blake, the latter of whom were crossing their arms with a frown.

"Blake...?" Luna didn't know what to say.

The White Fang meant everything to Blake, and Weiss' backlashing about them just now definitely didn't help any of there nerves. Since she was born, Blake became a member of the White Fang that her own parents started, something of a similarity the two shared. She wanted to uphold her family line and wanted do everything she could to fight for Faunus rights everywhere. In a way, she's always been fighting for her life and the lives of others, ever since she was born!

Maybe that's another reason she always looked up to Blake, just now realizing it herself. She was always putting others first, always trying to make her family proud, and never turned away from the path she once chose. She upheld her family's name and did what she could to be a proud member of the White Fang.

"Blake?" She called out again, walking to her side. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah I'm... I'm fine Luna..." She mumbled leaning over the railings of the road.

"You don't look it." They could've spent no time with each other in the past and Luna would still be able to know what was on her mind. The teen leaned against the rail herself, wind gently blowing against her ears. "You're thinking of the Fang, aren't you?"

"Huff, Luna..." This was beyond bad. She couldn't even look at Luna as she spoke, a rare occurrence that hasn't occurred since... then... "I don't... I don't know what to do these days."

"Well just smile and try to solve it." Luna tried to encourage giving a small smile. "We can fix this problem together! Hey, why don't we ask Ruby and Yang to help us? They're our friends, I'm sure they'll understand if we talk! After all, they don't know anything from either of our pasts or our intentions." Now Blake was fortunate she was turned away from Luna, otherwise she would've displayed the look of shock and somewhat of a blush on her face.

"Uhh y-yeah, I know that, but...". If her ears weren't tied in her ribbon right now, she'd easily display just how troubled she was.

"Excuse me." A voice spoke up from behind the duo. The two were caught by surprised at the sight of the young-looking girl behind her. She seemed pretty nice if the outfit was anything to be considered, with a light grey colored overalls with a pair of matching black stalkings. She seemed to be in a perky mood too, greeting the two with a calm and simple smile and a wave, brightening her orange hairdo. "Salutations!"

"Um... Hello?" Luna greeted back questionably. It was hard to say how you should greet someone who comes out of nowhere in the middle of a conversation.

"Good day!" She quickly replied in an even perkier tone. "Have either of you seen Grimm around here?" A simple eight word question was enough to send panics down Luna and Blake's spin.

"A-A w-wh-what?" Blake stuttered nervously. Luckily the nervousness seemed to pass off as simple fear to the ginger-haired girl, giving her a pleasing smile and a light bow.

"No need to be worried," she assured, "I have not heard reports yet stating that there was a Grimm in the vicinity of Vale."

"T-Then why would you think there's a Grimm around here m-miss uhh... um... What was your name again?" Luna asked.

"My name is Penny. Penny Polendina. It's a pleasure to meet you both!" She replied again. No amount of words seemed to affect this girl in any sort of way. Every reaction she had was set to "happy". At least until she gazed at Luna further. "As for your further question, I have a distinct feeling that there is a Grimm somewhere nearby. Presumably right where your standing in fact." Without even giving Luna a chance she gently pushed the girl to the side as she looked at where Luna stood. She only gazed at it for three whole seconds before looking where Luna was standing now. "Now I believe there's a Grimm over there."

If there was a word to describe something worse than bad Luna needed it right now because the faunes girl's attempt to back away slowly only made things worse. With each step she took, Penny's eyes followed along exactly one second immediately after. How was she supposed to respond in this situation? Some strange girl just drops in on them out of nowhere and can apparently detect Grimm!

There weren't any words that could simplify "I can summon a Grimm from out of my shadow" that would keep the attention off of them.

"Blaaake, help me out here..." Luna peeped. To make matters worse, the minuscule cry of help was all it took to further Penny's inquiries.

"Do you require assistance fellow stranger person?" Penny asked politely.

"What? No, not at all!" Luna waved her hands frantically. "I-In fact, I think I saw a Grimm running several miles in that direction!" She quickly lied pointing away. If there was ever a time she needed a lie to work, now was one of those times.

It didn't.

"But I am almost certain that there is a Grimm not too far from-"

"Luna?" The sound of Pyrrha's familiar voice brought too much relief to the young girl as the three saw the group coming back. Some of them had annoyed expressions on their faces, the results of their attempted capture being presented as such.

"Oh thank god- I mean hi Pyrrha!" Luna quickly dashed to her side via her semblance, nonchalantly hiding behind her a little as Pyrrha saw the concerned smile on Luna's face. "Pyrrha, I'd like you to meet my spontaneous friend Penny. For some reason she can sense Grimm!"

"Spontaneous fr... Oooh!" Pyrrha's eyes lit up, followed by Nora's, as the two realized what she just said. Surprisingly enough this was the first sentence to be said by anyone to change Penny's expression from eager happiness to head-tilting curiosity.

"Friend?"

"Heeeey Penny!" Nora nervous approached the girl from behind, trying to distract her. "How's your day been?" As she tried to distract the mysterious girl, Pyrrha and Luna slowly inched themselves backwards, hoping to separate a good dozen feet away from the girl until Luna could zip herself away from the Grimm-trackable girl. The last thing anyone needed, at all, was for the presence of Luna's Grimm friends to be known to the general public. Having it discovered in the Academy would've been bad enough. Place that discovery within the confines of the city and there was no end to the trouble that could cause!

Thankfully Lady Luck proved to be in their favor as Nora's distraction proved sufficient enough to spread some distance. Just a few more feet and Luna would be home free!

"Hey Looney!" Thus, by the sound of Yang's greeting as the two backed into her, did Luna realized there was no Lady Luck. If there was, then she definitely didn't like Luna. "What's going on?"

"Forget that, where's the Faunus?" Blake asked as the remainder of Weiss approaching.

Unbeknownst to Luna, the question wasn't a form of distraction meant to help her best friend. Her concern was solely focused on the fellow Faunus who was still in trouble.

"Hey guys, what's-" Jaune was cut off from his greeting as he noticed the new girl amongst their group.

"Umm... hello. So guys, any idea where the Faunus went?"

"You didn't catch him?" Blake felt some relief to this outcome, not that Weiss' words were helping.

"Of course we didn't catch him!" Weiss yelped. "How can you expect to catch such a filthy degenerate anyway?"

"Quit calling him a degenerate!" Blake yelled. As the two began to bicker, the numerous eyes being drawn to them, Luna was quickly caught off guard as she yelped, noticing Penny's out-of-nowhere appearance as she spoke right next to her.

"Fellow Luna Looney," Penny incorrectly identified, "what did you call me earlier?"

"Huh?" Unless it was anything fear-related Luna didn't have a clue.

"What you called me when your friend came about. What did you call me?"

"Call y- Oh, that! I-I said friend." She replied nervously. The sooner she could finish any and all conversations with this girl the better.

"Friend? Did you say we were friends?" Her glass-like eyes shimmered with interest. Yang couldn't help but fawn over the scene.

"Aww isn't that cute, Looney? You made a friend!" She chuckled.

"Really? Truly? Are we really friends?!" Penny lit up holding Luna's hand with excitement. Given the options, Luna decided to pick the lesser of two evils that would get her in trouble.

"U-Ummm if you promise to stop with the whole sensing-Grimm thing then you have a deal!" Luna squeaked. She wasn't in any state to be cutting deals, but if this Penny was as unbalanced as she appeared to be then she needed to cut any break she could get!

The first one to react this offer actually came from Yang as she looked at the young with confusion, Luna never realizing she spoke out loud. "Grimm thing?" At the same time, Luna could've sworn Penny's eyes glowed Green for a split-second as immediately following this, the soul-piercing gaze she once felt was lifted from the young girl.

"Sensational!" Penny cheered triumphantly. This was a dream come true! A friend! An honest-to-goodness friend! Oh what fun this was going to be! "We can paint our nails, and try on new clothes, and talk about cute boys! Oh we'll have so much fun!"

What on Remnant was this girl? These thoughts of horror and terror were interrupted at the increasing volume of Weiss' and Blake's argument. Whatever they were discussing was reaching it's breaking point because they were both now mere inches from each other's face.

"He's not a filthy Faunus, he's a person!" Blake shouted angrily.

"Faunus' aren't people, they're animals, especially the White Fang!" Weiss snapped back. She usually wouldn't show such prejudices like this, much less in public, but the debate between a Faunus compared to a no-good Faunus was getting on her nerves. "Would you prefer if I stopped referring to this trashcan as a trashcan? Or this lamppost as a lamppost?" being taken from her conversation with penny to her what Weiss was saying Luna's face contorted into one of pure rage.

"I said stop it!" The group of friends nearly jumped as Luna grabbed Weiss by the collar of her shirt. Weiss herself didn't let any of this get to her as she returned the same treatment, grabbing Luna's own clothing.

"Whoa guys, calm down!" Jaune panicked. "J-Just cool down for a moment-"

"And give the Faunus enough time and he surely end up joining the ranks of those White Fang scumba…!" Weiss sentence was cut of by something that shocked everyone present.

Weiss was held up further by a very angry Luna holding her fire cloaked fist out at the ready looking at Weiss with a death glare that could kill

"SHUT THE FUCK UP YOU STUPID, SPOILED, RASIST BITCH!!!"

"How dare you treat me like this! I am the heiress to the Schnee Dust Company !" She reminded. None of their friends were brave enough to intervene at this point. If any of them did, it would only end violently.

"You're a judgmental little brat is what you are." Blake hissed.

"I think we should go..." Yang whispered to the younger leader.

"The mere fact you would sort that Faunus boy with a terrorist group makes you just as much a scoundrel as you believe him to be."

"So you admit that the White Fang is just a radical group of terrorists!"

"That's not what I meant and you know it!"

By now the remaining students of both teams were being tortured by the never-ending debate that was Weiss and Blake and Luna. At the present the sun had gone down, yet the friends of both teams found themselves stuck in the exact same location with Weiss and Blake and Luna still barking at one another like group of dogs truly ironic for two of the arguties. Both teams were tired and both teams wanted to go back to Beacon, Nora's snoring state as she leaned against Ren's shoulder was proof of that. The rest of the crew were either leaning against the rails along the road or sitting against it, still waiting for the conversation to come to an end and trying to stay awake.

They couldn't risk bringing this debate to Beacon and keeping everyone else in the school up, and any attempts to break it apart non-forcefully were met with hisses, angry glares and flaming fists from the three shouting girls. The only thing they could do at this point was to wait and pray something brought an end to this conversation, hopefully soon. The only one not showing any signs of tiredness were from the mysterious Penny girl, the girl trying to make any and all conversation with Luna to pass the time sadly though being ignored.

"You realize you're defending a an organization that hates humanity, don't you?" Weiss pointed out, pacing back and forth in front of Blake as both girls glared at each other. "The Faunus of the White Fang are pure evil!"

"There's no such thing as pure evil!" Blake was at a cross. She was at a cross between maintaining her composure and attacking Weiss, something that was telling her to lean towards the latter. "Why do you think they hate humanity so much! It's because of people like Cardin, like YOU, who force the White Fang to take drastic measures in the first place!"

"People like me?"

"You're discriminatory!" That line of shouting popped the snot bubble as Nora jumped awake, groaning at the sight of the conversation having yet to cease.

"Is it done yeeeet?" She groaned. Ren just patted her head casually, not taking his eyes off the scene.

"Just go back to bed Nora." As he wished it, so it was, Nora falling to sleep immediately with the snot bubble regrowing.

"I'm a victim!" Weiss yelled.

"How are you the victim?!" This was going from being too much to being too doubtful. Blake was almost amused at what sort of desperation she was about to unveil, anything she was going to use to win some ounce of sympathy.

"You want to know why I don't trust the White Fang? Why I don't particularly trust Faunus?" She paused briefly as a scowl grew on her face looking at Luna before looking up to the broken moon as she turned her back to her. "It's because they've been at war with my family for years. My grandfather's company has had a target painted on its back for as long as I can remember, before I was even born. And ever since I was a child, I've watched family friends disappear, board members executed, an entire train car full of dust... stolen. And everyday, my father would come home furious, and that made for a very, difficult childhood." Out of the group, it was Ruby who mustered the courage to walk over to her fellow friend, noticing the distress emanating from the young Schnee.

"Weiss, I-" And was just as quickly cut off with the slap to her wrist, the young girl rubbing it sorely from the sting.

"So you want to know why I despise the White Fang?!" She continued, walking steadily with fury towards the raven-haired girl. "Because they are nothing but a bunch of liars, thieves, and murderers. And as far as I'm concerned, they, and the rest of their families can all burn for all I care-!"

WHAP!*

"!" Everyone's eyes lit up at once at this, including Nora's own.

They had feared it would get to this point. It went on for hours on end. It actually looked like there would eventually be an end to it that didn't resort to violence. Despite everyone's trust though, it was all dashed away as time itself froze in place. There, before them, stood a shocked Blake, and an equally shocked Weiss who was still reeling in from the sting of the sudden strike to her cheek. And yet between the two, it was not Weiss' eyes that watered with salty tears.

It was Blake's.

"WELL MAYBE WE WERE JUST TIRED OF BEING PUSHED AROUND!" And the damage was done. Right in front of both teams, in front of one of the closest things she ever had to being called an enemy, she just announced a relationship she had to the White Fang. And just like that, Blake took off, her semblance leaving only a faint trail of which way she left.

"Fucking God dammit!!!" Yelled a very pissed and worried Luna as she chased after Blake with lightning speed

Out of all of it, Weiss was the only one who looked at the preparing to give chase teams with confusion. "Hey, where's everyone going? I'm the one who was just attacked! Why are you going after her?" Ruby paused after passing Weiss a few feet ahead. Like she had with Blake, Ruby didn't give her the courtesy of attention.

"You know Weiss," she muttered in a low tone, "you keep telling me that I need to grow up, that I need to live up to the expectations of a leader and all that stuff. That I need to be an adult." She turned her head just far enough so that she could see the girl through the corner of her eye. "But if being an adult means I have to turn out to be an adult like you, then I hope I never grow up."

And then, Weiss was alone.

Blake was alone.

It was from the rooftops Blake found herself, squatting behind the ledge as she buried her head into her knees.

Weiss was right, about everything. The White Fang had truly gone rogue from their predecessors, they weren't even a shadow of their former selves anymore but it didn't matter they were fighting for faunes rights.

ring-ring*

ring-ring*

"Hello?" Blake mumbled into her scroll, slowly lifting herself from the ground as she looked below at the city. "Yeah... And... Uh huh... oh. Don't worry I'll sort it out. See if you can hit up one some of their dust shops tomorrow. Make sure there's no one following you, pay off the people you usually do take out any enemies and keep a low profile till morning." With the conversation coming to an end, she clicked her scroll before putting it away.

The life of a White Fang member was never easy these days...


	17. Chapter 17

Meanwhile in another part of Vale.

Blake was sitting in a table with the Monkey Faunus from the boat that had arrived from Vacuo. Sun Wukong was infront of her with a smile plastered on his face as he drank coffee, holding the cup by using his tail to do so. But more importantly he had been waiting for her to say any word at all since he found her at the fountain on Beacons frontyard.

"Can you please stop smiling like that?" Blake finally spoke.

"And finally she speaks!, for a moment i thought you had lost your voice." Sun said.

"its just...i wasnt sure if i could trust you on this."

"oh come on, you know that i will help you...i already took care of you for two days." the Monkey Faunus said with a smile.

The Cat Faunus sighted and looked at him."What do you think of the White Fang?" she asked.

"well…they give a bad name to us Faunus" he responded.

"Do you think they're responsible for all the recent robberies"

"I don't know but people do talk" said Sun

"Well with all this Dust being stolen people are blaming the White Fang but I believe that it's someone else so i want to find out if my hunch is correct , do you have any idea on where to begin?" she asked.

"Well as much as I would love to help you you know what they say" said Sun sticking out his hand "money talkes" as Blake handed him the money a smile spread further across his face "well when the boat from Vacuo was still on the way here i heard that a dust shipment would be arriving today on the docks." the Monkey Faunus explained.

"how big?" the Cat Faunus asked.

"Big, like really big! Its a Schnee Frigate right from Atlas". he said

Blake stood from her chair, leaving some lien on the table and started walking out, followed by Sun."then I best not waste any time not waste time…I have to get to the docks as soon as possible". she said as they walked out of the Café they were in.

"Blake wait up!" a familiar voice exclaimed, the Cat and Monkey Faunus turned around to see a trio coming towards them. They were the tiger Faunus, the Scythe Wielder and the Strange Girl.

"Do you have any idea how hard you are to track down!" She exclaimed.

The one that had called her out was Luna."weve been searching for you for hours!" She exclaimed.

"y-you dont understand guys..." she said.

"Oh yes we do, you are our friend and we just want to help you!" Ruby exclaimed this time.

"Who are they?" Sun asked.

"they are my friends and Teammates at Beacon, Luna Fall and Ruby Rose" she said while looking down ashamed. Sun looked at them, especially at Luna and he was looking nervous.

"Well you got some powerful friends"

"Hey moneygrabber long time no see" said Luna looking unhappy with Sun

"Yeah hehe, no hard feelings right" said Sun now looking really nervous

"Luna, Ruby what are you doing here, where are the other" asked Blake looking quite worried

"If I were to guess, I would say there out looking for you" said Ruby looking slightly worried for her teammate

"Probably to try put me away"

At that Luna couldn't help but laugh "hahaha oh that's a good one"

"Luna this is serious!" said Blake on the verge of yelling

"Ok ok sorry" Luna took a moment to compose herself "but seriously Blake these are our friends were talking about, first theres Ruby here who as far as I'm concerned doesn't have an mean bone in her body, then there's Yang she's your friggen partner and okay Weiss is a bit of an issue but I'm sure we can work through that and then there's team Juniper they haven't done use wrong yet so I'm sure they'll understand".

"I don't know" if Blake's ears were visibly they would definitely be tucked down

"Well we can sort that out later for now I believe I overheard something about a dust shipment"

"Well you know what they say" said Sun holding out his hand albeit shakenly

"You remember the last time you tried charging me for info" said Luna giving him a evil smirk

"Far point, okay from what I've heard there is supposedly a Schnee Dust Company Frigate and some people are sayin it's a target for the white fang"

"Please Blake, let us help you, we know you want to prove that the white fang isn't behind these robberies so let's do it together"the Team Leader said.

The Cat Faunus rised her head and looked at her leader. She sighted both one of relief and regret. "sorry for running away, i was scared of what you all might have thought of me". This was the truth but not that she cared for Beacon or anything she was more concerned she would have to abandon the mission.

"That doesn't matter anymore, we are Team mates and friends. Friends help each other remember that.* Luna said this time

"She is right…so i ask you four, can you help with this issue about the White Fang rumors?, we need to go to the docks and see what is going on". she said.

Luna, Sun, Ruby and Penny nodded positively."of course we will help you!" Ruby exclaimed.

Hours later

They had gone to the Docks to wait for the arrival of the Schnee cargo frigate, hours had flown bye as they waited. Eventually the ship arrived but so far the White Fang had yet to make their pressence known.

Right now Luna and Blake were laying down on the top of one of the dockss many warehouses, waiting for something to happen.

"its weird, the ship is here already but they havent appeared yet…" Blake said and Luna nodded in agreement, had to keep up appearances. In honesty they were here to make sure rival group the berserk grizzlies didn't get the dust before them.

"but she should continue waiting to see if something happens" Ruby said as she walked close to the edge of the warehouses rooftop and standed next to Luna and Blake.

Sun got back after having gone out for some food. "hey guys, i stole some apples for you!" he nonchantantly said.

Blake and Ruby looked at him with deadpan expressions will Luna just looked hungry.

"Do you always break the law without a second thought?" Ruby asked and Sun laughed nervously.

"Pass mé an apple dude" Sun did so noticing Ruby's not so happy expression

"Luna you shouldn't be encouraging him"

"I'm sowwy, though its not my fault he's a bad influence" said Luna taking a bite out of her apple

"Hey guys look!" Penny exclaimed, the three turned around to look at the docks again, a bullhead just landed, its hatch opened revealing members of the berserk grizzlies. They instantly started picking up the crates and boxes that the Schnee frigates crew had unloaded some hours ago.

"Damn idiots" Luna mumbled, annoyed to see that her uncles rivals were part stealing their dust.

"Wait there is someone else coming out of the Bullhead!" Blake exclaimed and in that moment a black haired pale women wearing old looking red armor and a Grimm like helmet mask combo stepped out of the bullhead gesturing orders.

"What the hell?!, something ain't right… that women ain't a commander in the grizzlies, im sure of it!" the tiger Faunus exclaimed and jumped out of the rooftop, landing on some piled containers and moved towards the seeming Leader with her katana in hands.

"Come on you morons move faster!, we dont have all night". The women exclaimed she stopped drawing her own katana stopping the incoming black katana.

"Who the hell are you?!" She yelled in the mask wearers face as the grizzly soldiers looked at them, they moved closer slowly with their assault rifles aimed at her.

"You don't need to know who I am only that The berserk grizzlies and I are on a bussiness venture together". She said, as she kicked Luna away. "ooh poor little kitty, you are just in denial.

"Luna!" Blake yelled as she jumped off the rooftop as well, followed by, Ruby and Penny.

Ruby having her weapon ready, while Penny had yet to bring out her weapons.

" inst this past your bed time little? the Criminal Leader mocked the Team Leader.o

"Very funny but we're here to stop you, you only have a few of those grunts!" Ruby exclaimed.

"i wouldnt say so…" she said as a spotlight illuminated them and 2 more bullheads descended into the Docks.

"Oh for fucks sake…" Luna said, angered. But nonetheless she held tight to her blade the women rose her hand and with that a gun shoot was heard. The red dust sniper blast hit the Scythe Wielder, but she luckily had used her aura to protect herself from the sudden attack. "Ruby!, ill show you what happens when you try to hurt my friend bitch!" Luna said and charged her body cloaked in fire and lightning.

Luna had decided to fight the grizzly grunts and soldiers who had moved off of the other two bullheads, while Blake and Sun were the ones dealing with masky, Luna's own nickname for the mystery women. The Monkey Faunus had turned his staff into a pair of Nunchuks-Shotguns and was attacking the Criminal Leader restlessly, not giving her a chance to counter attack yet. The Cat Faunus got in as well, trying to land attacks of her own with Gambol Shroud, masky was avoiding the attacks of both Faunus and eventually she jumped backwards raising her hand looking at a Container that was being held in the air by a crane, Just like before the sniper shot a proyectile of red dust. The hook that holded the container was destroyed. Blake and Sun had noticed that and the jumped away to avoid being crushed by the enormous metallic object.

Back with Luna, just like Ruby had asked her she used non-lethal attacks on the grizzly members fighting her, mostly light slashes that would not kill them or knocking them out by using kicks. After leaving another one K.O, she found herself surrounded by 6 of them…all using melee weapons such as machetes, the most common weapon of the WF grunts. 3 charged the same time, their machetes directed at the tiger Faunus.

Sheathing her sword cloaking her hands in fire she began to focus, the fire slowly grew bigger scaring the grunts still as Luna opened her eyes with a look telling them, they fucked up

"DRAGON SLAYER SECRET ART, RAGING NOVA!!!!"

Fire enveloped the six grunts along with Luna and if you looked closely you would see small streams of tiny explosions hitting the grunts.

"Really the grizzlies should start using more of their veterans members". She said and then a sudden explosion rocked the docks, turning around she saw Penny with several blades floating around her back and an angered expression on her face, the source of the explosion was because she had destroyed one of the three Bullheads.

"Holy shit…she single handedly destroyed a Bullhead?" She asked out loud in total shock from that.

The women sheathed her sword knowing she was at a disadvantage."jeez, kids are getting weirder and weirder these days". She said and quickly started walking towards the Bullhead waiting for him, this one had most of the stolen dust box and crates. The remaining grizzly grunts that hadnt been knocked out boared the bullhead with her and it started taking off.

Your not escaping!* Luna exclaimed as he ran towards the bullhead, the grizzly soldiers on the hatch started firing with their assault rifles at the tiger Faunus. She avoided the bullets coming towards her, another with a rocket launcher appeared on the hatch and fired at Luna. Looking at the proyectile coming towards her she quickly jumped back letting the explosion happen eating the fire.

Ruby, Penny, Sun and Blake looked at the faunes waiting for her to finish her meal. Eventually the tiger Faunus finished and looked at them. "well she got away in the end". She said, with slight dissapointment clear on her voice.

An hour later.

Eventually Yang and Weiss got to the docks and the place was filled with police officers from the Vale Police Department, who were arresting the grizzly members that had been knocked uncouncious. Luna, Ruby, Sun and Blake were sitting over some crates chatting. The Team Leader noticed the twos arrival and saw Weiss coming towards them faster than Yang, she standed from the crate and walked towards her.

"Weiss!, see we found Blake and she is actually a faunus as well and...and has cat ears which are kind of cute". she said in a atempt to defend Blake if the Schnee Heiress would continue the last arguement.

"look its true that i once was a member of the White Fang, but not anymore…i-" she started but stopped as Weiss held up a finger.

"weve been searching for you for a while, that means that i had a while to think about everything i said and i came to the conclusión….* she did a pause as everyones attention was now on her.*that i dont care".

"What?" asked a confused Blake.

"You said your not with them anymore didnt you?"

"yeah, its been years since i-" the Cat Faunus tried to say something but Weiss stopped her once again.

"aahp, aahp, aahp i dont wanna hear anything. But the next time something this big happens…remember to come to us first as we are a team and friends...Not" she looked at Sun. "not somebody else".she said and smiled, everything smiled as well.

Yaaay! Team RSYBL is officially complete once again!* Ruby exclaimed.

"This deserves a little bit of celebration!, lets head back to Beacon!*" Yang exclaimed.

"Well i AM really still hungry so yeah!* Luna exclaimed and the Group decided to head back to the academy.

Luna stopped for a moment looking around.

"whats wrong Luna?" asked Blake.

"I cant find Penny, she just dissapeared after the police officers arrived!" she exclaimed

Away from the group, inside a black limosine. Penny was inside the vehicle and she was talking with someone.

"i told you to not go too far from the base Penny, i didnt know you had been here in the docks until i heard the reports, please next time dont go out alone." the man said.

yes…i understand.* she responded while looking down, saddened.

Back at Beacon academy.

Teams RSYBL and JNPR plus with Sun had been celebrating that Blake was back with them and without injuries, right now they were on Team RSYBLs dorm room, still talking about the things that happened today while Luna and Nora were having a showdown to see who could win a game of poker. So far the Energetic Hammer Wielder had defeated the Tiger Faunus in every round that the two had played.

"its impossible Luna, Nora is like one of the best poker players ive ever seen!" Jaune exclaimed. "why do you still try?" he asked.

"because she is stubborn and wont stop until she has defeated her at least for once". Blake said. Ruby and Yang laughed and continued looking

Hah! That round where she almost defeated me was only luck, but it looks like her luck has run dry and im going to win again! HAHAHAHAHAHAAHAHAHAHAHAHA!* She laughed like a maniac

And to add more to Lunas frustration her hand wasnt that good as well, so she just threw the cards on the floor and surrendered."alright, alright you win this time Nora!"

After laughing like a mad woman again she picked up the lien Luna had bet."120 lien for me! Woooh!" She exclaimed.

"Well at least you did your best didnt you Looney?" Yang said as she patted her on his back.

"dont worry, maybe youll get them back from Nora one day." She joked and everyone started laughing exept for Sun.

(Later that night)

Yang was snoring away as she usually did but by this stage Weiss had gotten used to the noise and Ruby grew up with the snore machine so needless to say she'd grown to deal, sadly for the two faunes roommates it was still a struggle.

bzzz*

bzzz*

Sleepily Luna shifted away from Blake who she still shared the bed with, they may have had bunk beds but they still failed to get another bed, not that a certain cat faunes was complaining. Luna read the number getting out of bed walking into the bathroom.

"Where you going?" Asked Blake wondering where her heat source went

"Got a call going to the bathroom more private"

With that Luna opened the door closing it behind her answering the call

"Hey uncle Ro how ya doin"

"Doing great kiddo but sorry I didn't call for a chat" he paused and Luna could tell a smirk was on his face "We need firecracker"

"Hmff that nickname was never clever"

"And yet every one of our men know you as such"

"Whatever I'll be there soon but I'm bringing Shroud"

"Do you always have to bring her?"

"Yes I do I already know this is about the frigate job that got wrecked by the grizzlies and she's way stealthier than me"

"Far enough, oh wait Neo wants to talk"

There was silent for a moment as Roman took in what Neo was saying

"We both know it's cause you like her"

A blush spread across Luna's face one rivaling a tomato as she hung up to call switching the text

"Shut it shorty"

":( Flame brain"

"Ok before we start another half hour argument could you please get your friend and get here"

"Fine"

Putting away her scroll she quietly walked out of the bathroom walking over and tapping Blake's shoulder to get her attention

"What's up"

"We got a job ta do"

With that Blake rose out of bed mildly annoyed at the sudden work walked over to the wardrobe to gather her casuel public clothes and got changed in the bathroom, once she was done she walked back to there shared bed reaching under it to grab a duffel bag containing her Shroud outfit, Luna was still confused at how nobody had found her outfit but then she remembered who her teammates were.

Seeing her friend ready to leave they walked to the window being careful to open it as quietly as possible and proceeded to sneak past the cameras and make there way off Beacon grounds.

Continuing there track in the distance they saw a very familiar multi colored hair petite girl standing under a tree, as the two walked closer she took notice of them giving them both a happy smile

"Hey Neo how ya been"

"I've been good it's been really boring without you two around"

"Yeah I can only imagine how crazy moms been without me there"

"She was always a bit over protective of you"

"You know how much I'd love to stay and chat but we really need to get going" said Neo gesturing to the roof tops

"Agreement" said Luna and Blake in unison enticing a giggle from the smaller girl as she thought "I ship it"

The group jumped from roof to roof, making sure to stay hidden by the shadows as they got closer and closer to there targeted area.

Soon enough, buildings turned into trees and light became scarcer,but thanks to faunes night vision Blake and Luna could see fine. After quite a while of jumping from tree to tree, they found there destination. A tunnel.

Crawling out of the secret entrance of Romans base Luna was greeted by the sight of her mother and uncle

"Hey mom, uncle Ro" said Luna walking over wrapping her mother and uncle in a massive bear hug

"Hello starlight its so good to see you again to, how are your studies going"

"Mom I already told you all that over the phone"

"I suppose, oh but how rude of me Blake it's so good to see you again too it's has been a while years in fact"

"Oh umm yes it's good to see you too miss"

"Oh please we're in private now sweetie no need to be formal"

"Alright auntie Cinder"

"As heartwarming as this is were running on limited time"

"Very true, ok Luna as you know the dock raid was ruined thanks to the grizzlies"

"I am aware" her anger was clear

"And so threw a little bit of digging we found out where the trucks delivering the dust are headed so the plan is you and Shroud here are going to intersept those trucks meet with B team and get back here" Roman explained he never referred to Blake by name wanting to keep things professional.

"Sounds like a plan give use a few to get ready"

"Be quick"

With the conversation done Blake walked away into the make shift changing room changing into her white fang general attire. The outfit consisted of a sleeveless jacket, long gloves, stiletto heel boots, a white fang mask and several straps with vials of powdered Dust lined across her pants. The gloves, boots and pants have black cat designs purely for fashion of course.

Seeing her friend ready to leave Luna equipped her satoshi that her mother had held for her once done she focused her energy into her left hand and in doing so caused black lines to spread across her body black mist leaked out of the lines, the mist began to solidify taking shape in the form of black scale armor consisting of elbow guards, a chest piece leaving her mid riff exposed boots spreading up to her knees and finally a mask with red eyes similar to a white fang mask but black.

"You know how unfair that is?" Blake asked looking at her disguised friend

"What?, the fact that my outfit just materializes out of nowhere or that my outfit just looks so much better than yours?"

"One that's a matter of perspective two we need to go"

"Alright then let's go then"

Luna and Blake jumped from tree to tree, making sure to stay hidden as they got closer and closer to there targeted area.

After quite a while of swinging and jumping from tree to tree, she found her destination. A road tunnel.

Perching themselfs on a separate branches near the entrance of the tunnel, Luna took out her phone and dialed her companions.

"Heya squirt, running into problems already?" a male voice asked upon picking up the phone.

Luna rolled her eyes, "No Mercury." She harshly whispered, "I just wanted to know if you guys have the trucks and were in position."

"Of course we do! Who do you think you're talking to?"

"A narcissist." The tiger girl deadpanned

"Squirt! I am hurt." He exaggerated, eliciting a giggle from the younger teen.

"Hehehe, that rhymed" she giggled

"Never mind that, just focus on the mission" a female voice demanded

"Every party needs a pooper that why we invited you." Luna sang

"Haha she got you good Emerald" Mercury laughed from a little bit away

"Ugh… You're Cinder's daughter alright…" the Emerald grumbled, and although she couldn't see it, but she was pretty sure her boss's daughter was sticking her tongue out at the tanned girl. "You better not be-"

Luna saw light coming from the tunnel in the corner of her eye and promptly hung up and pocketed her scroll. She made sure Blake was ready as well as changing her satoshi into grapple mode and they got ready to jump.

After a few seconds, a two trucks came out of the tunnel and she only had to give a quick glance to the vehicle's side to confirm that it was the one she wanted.

A Schnee Dust Company truck

Letting her friend take the first truck as it escaped the tunnel Luna waited for the next one

And at the right moment, Luna launched herself to the truck, effectively hooking her claws on the side of the vehicle and then pulling herself up. Once she grabbed footing, she quickly made her way to the front, and then peeked through the window from the passenger's side. The sight made her roll her eyes, the driver had rolled down his window, presumably to have the cold night air blow in his face to keep him awake, but seemed to be failing seeing as he squinted and rubbed his eyes.

Thanks too her night vision and her vantage point she decided to watch what Blake did what she saw made her smirk hooking her claws on the side of the vehicle and pulling herself up. Once she grabbed footing, she quickly made her way to the front, and then peeked through the window from the passenger's side.

Thankfully both drivers hade the same idea of leaving the windows open which Blake took full advantage of grabbing her sword she launched it through the window wrapping the cord around the mans neck chocking him out once he was unconscious she threw him out.

Luna's truck driver seemed to take notice to his friend being thrown out his truck but it was too late Luna scooted over to the driver's side, and shoot her gauntlet threw the window hooking on the other side of the truck, causing him to jump up in his seat from fright.

She lowered her voice a little, "Good Evening!" She greeted with a smile, and before he could say anything, she activated her powers eliciting red lightning to cackle from her grappling wire effectively electrocuting him.

After several seconds had passed, Luna had rendered the driver unconscious. She then ungrappled her blade from his truck, pulled the door open, unbuckled him, pushed him out of the truck, and then took his place as the truck driver.

"Well… That was easy." The young teen giggled, taking of her armor as she continued driving, taking the truck to where Mercury and Emerald would be waiting.

"Ugh! That insufferable little… STUPID HEAD!" Emerald yelled in frustration. "Just wait until I get my hands on her, that'll show her to hang up on me. I swear. If she weren't Cinder's daughter…"

"Now now," Mercury chuckled "I'm sure there's a reason for her sudden hang up. Like, oh I don't know… someone coming in her direction?"

Emerald growled, "Whatever. She better have a good reason "

"Right right," The boy nodded. "But still, I do have to agree that it is rather odd that she wanted us to bring two small trucks..." He eyed the two vehicles parked next to each other. The location she had them wait at was a little odd too, straight off of the main road and a little outside of town. If they weren't careful, some grim could even come roaming towards them. "I can't think of anything that she could possibly steal that would require two mini trucks."

Emerald rolled her eyes, "Why didn't Cinder just tell use what she was stealing but knowing her, she would probably try to steal a whole shipment of cake or something..." causing the gray haired boy to chuckle

"I wouldn't put it past her," he said, amusement laced through his voice. "Hey, remember that cake heist we had to help her with like three years ago?"

"Oh my God..." the red eyed girl groaned, "Don't remind me, that was the stupidest thing I've ever done."

"Uh-huh, whatever. I know you had fun" He chipped "And, I know for a fact that you were proud of her. Probably just as much as Cinder was."

"W-Wha- No I didn't!" She protested "And I wasn't proud! We stole cake! That's not something to be proud of!"

"Really?" He asked, "Cuz, if I remember correctly, you kept yelling and grumbling about how an 13 year old could do better than all those stupid goons we were forced to work with and how they should all 'take lessons from her' or how we should have brought her instead of them, because then at least we could have accomplish something."

"Wha-What?! I-I don't know what you're talking about." She huffed, crossing her arms and turning away from him to emphasize her point.

"Uh huh" he smirked "Admit it, you like the squirt"

"I don't" She growled, "She's obnoxious, dim-witted, and... and... Well... A stupid head."

Mercury rolled his eyes, but then saw a flash of light coming from the side and pulled Emerald down while moving behind the trucks. Upon seeing that it was a Schnee Dust company truck, he let out a low whistle. "Man, having that much dust would be nice. It would probably fix our current problem of being behind." He chuckled "But what's it doing out here?"

"Who cares? We should steal it!" Emerald commented.

"As much as I would like to, we still have to wait for..."

The truck pulled to a stop just a little ahead of where they were, and before they could question it, a familiar tiger eared figure jumped out from the driver's side and eagerly waved at them.

"Firecracker!" Mercury nearly shouted in surprise "What is this?."

Luna eyed the boy with a concerned expression, "It's a Schnee truck... You know... Filled with Dust." She consented to his other demand, knocking the hat back off her head, allowing it to catch into the hood of her sleeveless coat

"You stole a truck?!" He asked

"Two trucks" The tiger girl corrected

The two older teens gaped at her, looking back at fourth between the truck and Luna before another truck came to a stop beside it Black jupming out.

"Luna why the hell did we have to race"

"Cause it was fun"

"Sounds fun" Mercury stated snapping out of his stupor Emeraled however was still a little shocked

The youngest teen rolled her eyes and trotted over to the back of the truck, melted the lock, and tossed it open, revealing the truck to be indeed filled with boxes and crates of dust.

"Oh my God... She stole a truck." The girl stated

"Uh... Guys... A little help here?" The tiger girl asked, gesturing to the crates around her.

The girl quickly snapped out of her stupor and quickly went to where she was as she hopped in the back. "Mercury, you fill your van up with the refined dust. Emerald, you get the Burn, Uncut crystals."

The two nodded, and with that, Luna pried open two crates, and began handing Mercury and Emerald and Blake the respective boxes.

"How did you two manage to steal two trucks?" Emerald asked after they had managed to empty a few crates

Luna and Blake smirked as they fist bumped, "We call it skill."

"I'm impressed squirts." Mercury commented as he was handed another box.

"What a second who came up with this plan?" Emerald asked

"Neo" said Luna looking confused at the question

"Did she...?" Mercury started

"She did..." Emerald nodded.

They both turned their faces towards the tiger girl again, still with a look of shock and disbelief.

"She pulled Operation Ice Cream on a Dust Truck..."

"Alright guys! Chop chop! Time's running out!" Luna stated

"What's the hurry? The night is long." Mercury commented

"Well, according to the time table, this truck is estimated to arrive at the warehouse soon. So unless we want a search party coming out…" Blake started

The boy sighed, "Then chop chop. I got it… You know, I think you two are having too much fun bossing us around."

Luna and Blake giggled, "Are we that obvious?"

Emerald rolled her eyes and made a face at the younger teen who then returned the gesture in kind.

After that, they continued working in silence. Making sure to fill their smaller trucks with the specified dust. This continued on for about 20 minutes until finally, they were finished.

"Remind me why we couldn't just take the truck?" Emerald groaned

"Because then it would be too obvious that this was planned out and having it would make it easier to track us down!" Luna hissed. "Now you two go back home, I need to take care of some stuff."

The two quirked an eyebrow, "What stuff?"

The younger teen gave a mischievous smirk as she pulled pulled out an orange spray paint can and gave it a little wave.

Mercury and Emeralds eyes widened as they registered what she was going to do, both laughing to show their approval.

"Alright firecracker, we'll drop this off at the warehouse. See you later." Mercury grinned.

Luna waved the two teens off as they drove away. She then turned around and gave a small huff as she skipped over to the side of the truck taking aim with the paint can. Blake hopped back up into the truck, pried open some more crates, and scattered a bit of the dust around inside the truck (making sure to pocket a few of the yellow and red ones). Hopping back out, she witnessed what Luna had done.

On the side of the truck was near perfect replica of the berserk grizzlies logo followed with the words

TORCHWICK IS A POOPY HEAD :D*

"So we're blaming this on the grizzlies will simultaneously insulting your uncle" said Blake tossing Luna a small bag of dust chunks

Catching the bag looking to her friend "well yeah they did cause this mess and you know I never miss a chance to mess with my uncle"

"Haha but really poopy head was the best you could come up with"

"Whatever let's just head back to Beacon" said Luna as she reaquipped her light armor

"Alright"

As they jumped threw the trees once more Blake looked to her friend again " but seriously poppy head"

"Shut up"

"Haha to easy"

Meanwhile back at the base

Mercury walked in, noticing the vicious, eye glowing glare that Cinder was sending their way. "That's no pleasant way to greet someone…" He grumbled

"Where's Luna?" She demanded

"She wanted to stay behind and put some last minute touches on her plan. Which, by the way, you won't believe what she managed to pull off." Mercury grinned

"Yeah, it was." Emerald commented, "Don't tell her I said this, but I was pretty impressed."

Cinder arched an eyebrow smirking Emerald was impressed that was rare "Well of course operation ice cream truck was full proof."

Ring*

Ring*

Looking at the number Cinder's mood visibly light up "hello starlight did you have fun"

"Yeah it was great they didn't even see use coming it was a blast"

"That's great to hear, I suppose your heading back to beacon now"

"Yep sorry we couldn't come back to base but we gotta get back soon keep up appearances and all that"

"Alright but make sure to visit soon"

"Hey I know visiting weekend is coming up soon I can visit you then".

"I'll see you then, love you my not so little starlight"

"Love you too mommy"


	18. Chapter 18

"Ok... Now what?" Luna asked looking back to Salem. This had been one of the biggest days of her life, one that she considered to be the biggest test to make her grandmother proud. Today, at this very moment of her life, she was going to make her first ever Grimm!

The thoughts that accompanied this were endless! What kind of Grimm should she make? How many Grimm can she make? Does it have to have a size limit or could she make it as big as she wanted to? How long was it going to live for? Did the process of making a Grimm take long? Was there something to make the process speed up? Would it obey her too or just her grandma unless she ordered it to follow Luna's every word? Could she make pre-existing Grimm or was there no limit to the imagination behind it? Was there any side effect of making a Grimm or multiple ones at once?

These were the very thoughts that went through the young faunes girls mind, never losing a second thinking about anything else. Except for how proud she knew she was going to make her grandma, of course. And she completed, what she assumed would be, the easiest step by placing the tip of her fingers atop the formless black liquid. It had a strange warmth to it as well as some form of stickiness. She assumed this must be what all Grimm feel like throughout their lives. Salem smiled as she kneeled over to her side, watching Luna at her first of many attempts.

"Take your time, Luna. This process will take awhile to master, even longer to complete it successfully." She commented. She could recall the first time she ever made her own Grimm decades ago. It took her nearly three months just to make a simple beowulf out of all things. Then again she was usually brooding those days, never thinking of much else other than the hatred she had for humanity. "First, you need to concentrate."

"Ok!... Concentrate on what?" She asked looking back and forth between the spawning pool and her grandmother.

"Your aura." She gathered up a small handful of black dirt and gently took Luna's other hand as she sprinkled some on it. "Picture every little speck of your aura, every little ounce of it, and picture yourself bringing it to the very tip of your fingers."

"Ok... I'll try." Luna took a deep breath as she closed her eyes thinking. There were a few lessons Hazel taught her about using her aura more efficiently to defend herself.

"Umm... Gran? How do I know if this is working?" She asked without opening her eyes.

"It may take some time before you can do it successfully, dear." She admitted. "I've done it so often myself I usually don't notice the signs of it working anymore."

"Well should I be feeling something?" Salem contemplated this, trying to think of any advice that would help her.

"The first thing you might feel is a slight tingling sensation along your arm."

"Like chicken skin?"

"I suppose..." Salem didn't know whether or not to shrug. "It'll come and go like a wave from your shoulder to your arm. Just don't be discouraged-"

"I got something!" Luna's eyes shot up all at once. What little room Salem did have briefly for doubt was quickly dismissed as she noticed a small amount of bubbling from the liquid right at Luna's fingertips.

"Incredible..." She muttered. She couldn't believe it. She wouldn't have believed it if one of her assistants told her that Luna was mastering the art of making a Grimm so easily. In fact, there was every reason not to! How could anyone, a mere child at that, already progress this far in under a minute? It took Salem alone the first week to get to the point of where Luna was at now! There had to be some other reasoning for-

"Now what?" She asked looking to her grandmother again.

Ah yes. Of course. How could she ever forget about that? She was so surprised with her sudden development that she had almost forgotten about Luna's special quality.

Her Dragon Slayer heritage.

Not wanting to waste this interesting moment further, she smiled to Luna as she glanced at the small bubbling puddle she was touching. "Now, comes both the fun, and the hardest, part of this. Making the Grimm." She enjoyed the look of excitement that lit up on Luna's face, watching her eyes widening along with her mouth, along with her ears raising as high as they could go.

It was cute.

"Yaaa! Ok come on Grimm! Come out!" She ordered enthusiastically. It was becoming increasingly harder for Salem to stifle the small giggle building up in her throat.

"It doesn't quite work that way, dear." She gestured to the small nevermore chick she created moments ago before Luna started. "You need to have a clear vision in your mind of what you wish to create.you need to be explicit in detail. You need to picture everything about it," she went on as she scratched the nevermore chick under it's neck, "from it's head, it's arms, legs, perhaps a tail or two. And that's not even including the organs you need to think of. You'll need to think of how they breathe, how strong their skin is, everything.

"Mh hm." Luna nodded to her as she turned back to the liquid, closing her eyes in focus. She needed to think of everything the Grimm could be capable of, not just what it would need to actually live. It could be something really strong, or something really fast. Maybe something with a very durable shell? At the very least, she could make something like Corrán or Freddie, something that she could pull out of her shadow to help her in a fight, or any dilemma for that matter.

At the same time, Salem grew a small smile as she watched Luna carefully. The more the child focused, the more she could see the liquid around her hand start to bubble. She was progressing so well, she wondered why she put this off at all until just now. She should've done this months ago, from when she first met Luna. She could feel herself growing a little excited to see what Luna's first Grimm was. She didn't expect anything much at the time, but anything she could make at all by this point would be a major development in her training as a valuable ally.

As well as keep her safe.

"Huh!" It was almost instinctively that Luna found herself opening her eyes again as she saw the black liquid in her fingers dip down connecting to the pool. Salem couldn't recall this ever happening before but from what she could tell that sense of readiness was what told her that a Grimm was ready to be brought into this world.

And almost on instinct Luna raised her hands to the pool of darkness and out of the pool rose a humanoid figure Salem was shocked this had never happened before.

"I did it... I did it Granny Salem!" Luna cheered slightly exhausted, nearly losing her nerve for a split second. She felt absolute warmth from the smile Salem was giving her while stroking her head.

"I'm very proud of you." She said it in an average and plain voice, one that meant wonders to the young Luna.

As the black goo fell off the humanoid figure Salem got a good look at what her granddaughter had created and it confused her to no end, standing their was a man standing 6 foot 6 inches wearing traditional butler attire, short grey hair along with a full beard but his most noticeable feature were his pointy ears and teeth along with the fact the whites of his eyes were black with red irises. (Think demon Sebas from overlord with pointy ears and teeth)

"Luna, just what or who did you create"

"I don't really know I was thinking about my favourite anime and there's a really strong Butler character in it so I thought of him, but you know more grimy"

"I see" if she was honest the concept of anime confused Salem all the ridiculous hair styles the outrageous poses and by dust the screaming it just made no sense.

"If I may" said the butler

"It can speak how that shouldn't be possible"

"I do not wish to overstep my bounds but is it you who is my master?" Said the butler looking to Luna

"Master?, well I don't know I made you but granny Salem is the queen of Grimm"

Snapping out of her stupor Salem adressed the situation "she is your master and I am your queen you will address use as such" said Salem through telepathy

"Of course your majesty" said the butler

"Wait granny Salem we forgot the most important step!!" said Luna slightly panicked

"And what would that be little one?"

"We need to give him a name"

To be honest it was a bit of an amusing situation here her granddaughter was trying to name a at appearance full grown man as if he were a new born child.

"So what will you name him"

"Hmmm your name will be…….. Jack"

"If that is the name you choose for me then I will carry it with pride" said Jack as he bowed to his new master and queen

"Cinder you are one extremely lucky women" thought Salem smirking away

(Present day)

Luna and Velvet we're enjoying breakfast in the cafeteria the tiger faunes of the two seeming oddly nervous, as Yang and Blake approached the two Yang yelled out

"Hey guys what's up?" Yang asked cheerily once she got to the table and sat next to Velvet leaving Blake no option but to sit next to Luna.

"Hey Yang we were just talking about Velvets photography." Luna replied faster than normal.

"Luna are you blushing?" Blake asked seeing the hint of red on Luna's face.

"N-no I'm just feeling a little warm." Luna replied attempting to lie but failing awfully.

Both Blake and Yang knew Luna was lying I mean seriously the fire breather being a little warm, but they decided to leave her alone for now.

The small group continued to talk through breakfast until Velvet announced that she had to go as Coco had planned a date for them in a couple hours and she needed to get ready. Realising that she could leave Blake alone with Luna, Yang made up some half hearted excuse to leave the pair together. Secretly Yang had been playing matchmaker and these two were her favorite ship.

As soon as they were alone Luna started to grab her scroll getting ready to leave before Blake stopped her.

"Luna could I talk to you for a minute?" Blake asked

"Su…sure Blake what's up?"

"I was wondering if you needed help with studying for professor ports class? I know normally Weiss helps you and Ruby but she's really needs to help Ruby" Blake said emphasizing how much help Ruby needed

"Su…sure let's head to the library." Luna responded nervously before the pair left the dining hall towards the library.

At the library like Blake had mentioned Weiss was there helping a very bored Ruby study the two joined them for a team study season minus Yang of course. After the group had finished studying they headed back towards their dorm only to run into Nora chasing another student around the courtyard while screaming something about the queen and her pancakes.

Ren was sitting under a tree watching it all unfold while shaking his head.

"Uh Ren what's going on?" Luna asked, perplexed as to the situation in front of her.

"His team dared him to take Nora's pancakes." Ren replied still watching the poor student scream for his life while Nora slowly gained on him.

"Shouldn't we help him?" Blake asked, knowing how angry Nora could get if you messed with her pancakes.

"No." Ren stated obviously not feeling bad for the poor third year.

"Wha? Why not?" Ruby's sputtered after hearing Rens dismissal of the situation.

"I told him not to try it before he grabbed them." Ren answered knowing nothing could stop Nora anyway.

After hearing this everyone fell silent as they sat and watched the third year scream even louder as Nora finally caught him.

"Hmm I'm a little hungry you wanna head for food" asked Blake looking toward the group

"I could eat" responded Weiss" looking toward Ruby "how about you"

"Sure why not"

"I'm good you guys go I'll be back at the dorm"

"Hi guys what cha doin?" Nora sung seeming very happy with herself.

"Just waiting for you. Come on Nora let's go" Ren replied as they Ruby, Blake and Weiss left for the cafeteria

On the way back to the dorm Luna ran into Velvet.

"Velvet hey can I talk with you?" Luna shouted as she ran up her.

"Sure Luna. I'm on my way to my dorm room wanna come with me we can talk on the way there?" Velvet asked slightly startled by Luna's approach.

"Sure." Luna replied as the pair walked to the student dorm building.

"So what did you need to talk about?" Velvet asked.

Luna seemed to hunch over at this as a blush spread across her face. "U-Um how d-did you know you liked Coco?" Luna asked sounding extremely nervous.

"Well I always wanted to be with her and whenever I wasn't I felt like a part of me was missing. I don't really know what else I can say sadly. Is there someone you like Luna?" Velvet responded trying to help the poor girl.

"I think so but I don't know what to do." Luna muttered sadly

( The next day)

Blake was feeling worried, Luna seemed to be trying to avoid her and brief times Blake saw her she looked like a ball of confusion and nerves this made Blake sad and even more worried.

Luna loved spending time with Blake, more so than anyone else on her team or friends she had started feeling different towards Blake about a month after there reunion.

Deciding her best bet was to find Velvet and Coco, Luna headed off towards the dorms to see if they were there or if any of their team may know where they were.

Having reached team CFVY,'s dorm, Luna knocked on the door to find the resident giant Yatsuhashi. Luna wasent used to having to look up to talk to someone but she didn't mind Yatsuhashi was a sweet heart after all.

"Oh hi Yatsuhashi is Coco or Velvet here?" Luna asked in a cheery tone

Luna had met team CFVY after helping Velvet one day after dealing with Cardin's usual bullying. She quickly became friends with all of them after Velvet mentioned that Luna helped.

"The lovebirds are down at the combat class arena" Fox called from somewhere in the room.

"Ok thanks Fox, thanks Yatsuhashi bye." Luna called as she started running down the hall before using her powers to reach the arena as soon as possible.

Once Luna reached the arena she started looking around for Velvet or Coco. Her search ended abruptly however as she crashed into Coco as she turned a corner.

"The hell you think you're.. . Oh hey kitty cat." Coco said surprised to see who had walked into her.

"Hi Coco is Velvet with you?" Luna asked, not seeing the rabbit faunus as she picked herself up off the ground.

"Yeah Bun Buns just putting away her weapon so she should be here in a minute. Why you trying to steal my girlfriend." Coco teased knowing what reaction she would get from the tiger girl.

"N-no no I just need to talk to her I swear." Luna yelped, worried she had made Coco think she was up to something.

"Relax kitten i'm just teasing." Coco laughed while Luna started to pout as a small blush spread across her cheeks.

"Coco are you picking on Luna?" Velvet called, sounding much sterner than normal, as she walked down the hall.

"Nah just having a bit of fun besides kitten needs to talk you anyway." Coco replied not worried about Velvets tone.

"Is this about yesterday?" Velvet asked, guessing that Luna wanted to finish their conversation.

Luna just nodded as she put her hands over her face so no one could see the deep blush on her face.

"Ok lets go and find somewhere a bit more private and Coco I need you to come with us. I think you may be able to help a bit more then I can." Velvet said before she started walking towards the courtyards of Beacon.

Luna led them to the small courtyard. After sitting in the small courtyard Coco decided to speak first.

"So what's this all about?" Coco asked, hoping someone would fill her in.

"Luna needs help with her feelings. She doesn't know if what she is feeling is because she likes this person." Velvet replied as Luna slowly curled in on herself.

"Ok kitten tell me what you're feeling and we'll try and help." Coco said, hoping to pay Ruby back after she helped Velvet.

W-well I really like being around her. She's so nice and she's pretty but she's really mysterious too." Luna started saying while Coco and Velvet listened intently.

"Ok kitten i'm gonna stop you there. From what you just said and the big dopey grin on your face i'd say you have fallen for this mystery woman hard. As for what you should do I think you need to have a chat with Blake."

Luna froze like a deer in headlights ears raising in shock when Coco said Blake's name. She couldn't believe Coco had worked out who it was from that little information.

"I guessing that's a yes then?" Coca asked as Velvet shot her a glare that was far scarier than anything Professor Goodwitch had done.

"Don't be embarrassed Luna I think you two would be really cute together Coco is right though you should talk to her it's clear to see Blake likes you too." Velvet said while hugging Luna, hoping to make the larger girl feel better and uncurl from her ball.

Luna nodded her reply while still staying curled into a ball for a few more minutes before she stood up with a determined fire in her eyes.

"Yeah I know wait I gota do, ima go to Blake and ask her out on a date"

"You go girl" yelled Coco raising her fist

"Yeah thanks for all your helps gals, you're the best!!" yelled back Luna running off

"Your welcome and Good luck!!!" Velvet yelled back


	19. Chapter 19

Luna let out a lazy yawn as she plopped herself down on the rooftop, placing a tray from the cafeteria with fruits and milk by her side. She watched the sun reflect off the lake as she let out a peaceful sigh. Her hands wrapped around a cup filled with hot milk, the steam rising up into the chilly morning air.

She sighed as she brought her phone out and dialed Roman's number.

A grunt greeted her ear, "Kiddo."

"Morning uncle Ro." Luna yawned, but didn't say anything else, as she was certain the other man was still trying to wake up.

A sound a light knock went through the line.

"Morning Neo." Luna added with a small grin

Silence filled the phone line, with the occasional sound of a sip and deep inhale and exhale from Roman smoking.

After a few minutes, a satisfied sigh escaped from the scroll – a proper indication that Roman was now fully coherent.

"Thanks for the other night Kiddo," Roman started. "Your mom was really starting to wear us out over here. We weren't sure we'd be able to last any longer."

"Oh," Luna blinked in surprise. She wasn't use to Roman thanking her so genuinely. "You're welcome."

"Though, I still don't know what makes her so… mushy around you." He drawled. "It can't be your looks, otherwise she'd be bending over backwards for me."

Luna rolled her eyes, grinning when a smack and an "Ow" sounded through the line. "Must be my charming personality."

A snort, "Ha! Well whatever it is, you should try to call her more often. It would really help us out over here." He insisted, "Besides, we'd appreciate getting decent food around here again. Ever since you left, the fridge has been empty and we have to fend food for ourselves. We haven't even been able to come home and grab any sweets! We were dying Kiddo! And it wasn't until you called her that we were able to get a proper meal and sugar."

Luna gave an amused look at her scroll. "I'm sure it wasn't that bad, though it's not like you haven't had to deal with a problem like this before."

"Look, stealing candy-"

A quick succession of knocks interrupted him

"And Ice cream," he added. "Is fine and all, but nothing beats coming home and being able to reach into the freezer and cabinet to grab them. The same goes for meals. There are only so many times we can dine and dash."

Crimson eyes rolled once again, "Oh but of course." She drawled. Though, she wasn't exactly happy to hear that everyone in the house hadn't been eating properly. Contrary to popular belief, she couldn't actually go and order her mother around or demand her to fix a problem. Most often times in order to help the others out; she had to go do it in a round about way. "You know, you should really ask Emmy and Merc to do grocery runs. I'm sure they'll be more than happy to." She said thinking about how hard her mom might have been working them during her absence and how eager they might be to get away for a while.

Roman scoffed, "You think they're actually willing to have anything to do with me?"

"No." Luna stated, "But I'm sure it'll give them an excuse to catch a break. Besides, they seem to like Neo well enough, I'm sure they're willing to grab some sweets for her and you by extension." She also thought of how it would be easier to ask her mom to lay off of them as opposed to trying to convince and remind her to get groceries. Cinder usually didn't care when she saw extra food around the kitchen, so it was the easiest solution Luna could think of.

A sigh, "Well, whatever they decide to get, it'll be more than what we've had in the house for the past few weeks. I'll ask them after this weekend. You're still coming home right?"

"Yeah."

"Fantastic. At least we'll have some extra sweets for us for a while right Neo?"

Luna snickered as she imagined the eager nod Neo was certainly doing at the moment.

Luna's ears flared up as she heard the sound of faint footsteps coming toward the roof door

"Alright gotta go see ya soon"

"Yeah this weekend right?"

"Yep" said Luna popping the p, and with that she hung up her scroll and looked toward the opening door to see Blake walking through.

"Hey Blake"

"Sup Luna"

Luna patted the space next to her "care to join me" she may have been acting calm on the outside but in reality she was having a panic attack "oh dust, oh dust, she's here, oh dust ok come on Luna let's do this

" she thought

"Sure why not" said Blake walking to where her friend patted, as soon as she sat down she got a good look at the gorgeous morning view, the trees of the forest waving slightly in the breeze, the sun reflecting off the water making a beautiful layer of shining water it was peaceful as if all the world didn't matter "Wow that quiet the view"

"Yeah, I like to come up here to relax sometimes"

"I can see why, but I know you didn't call me up here just cause it's a nice view?"

"We….well you see I…..I……um" Luna struggles to find the words

Blake put a had on Luna's shoulder "hey what's up you've been acting really weird latly?"

Luna shook her head rapidly as if to snap herself out of her stupor she looked toward Blake a determined fire in her eyes which was quickly extinguished as those same eyes meet very curious yellow ones.

"H-hey Blake?" Luna asked sitting very stiff.

Blake hummed a response while continuing to look into her friend eyes almost transfixed, not noticing Luna's behavior.

"Can I ask you something?" Luna timidly asked, now tapping her index fingers together.

Hearing the tone in Luna's voice caused Blake payed more attention. Seeing her posture and her nervous habit, Blake realised this obviously wasn't just a small matter.

Luna looked down "Alright let's do this" she mumbled low enough so Blake couldn't hear, she looked back at Blake

"Do you wanna go on a date with me?" Luna said quietly Blake heard but still wanted to make sure

"What?"

"Do you wanna go on a date with me?!" Luna repeated yelling this time

Luna sat there, eyes squeezed shut, fists clenched, and blushing madly.

Blake stared up at her incredulously, lips slightly ajar, but her voice soundless.

For a long moment, neither one spoke, moved, or even breathed. Luna only dared to crack open an eye and peek at Blake once the silence had dragged on for so long it was starting to become unbearable.

The older yet smaller girl forced herself out of her trance and was forced to face reality – and it was nervous, red-faced, and adorable.

She made eye contact with Luna, and both of them swallowed. Luna couldn't take the silence any longer, however. She started to fidget and stutter.

"U-Um... i-if you don't want to-"

"Yes."

Blake's response caused Luna to freeze all over again.

"Y-Yes?" she parroted. "S-So does that mean-?"

"Yeah let's go," Blake slowly hugged Luna going up to her ear to whisper. "On a date."

Another beat of silence. Then-

"R-Really?!" Luna squeaked. "Th-Thank you so much! I-I'll text you the info in a little while, i-is that okay?"

Blake nodded unhugging Luna who proceeded to get up and jump up and down on the spot.

"That's great! Thank you, Blake! I-I'll see you soon, then!"

With that, Luna twirled around and positively skipped off down the hallway, giggling and humming.

Blake walked back to her dorm blushing up a storm, she got to the door opened it up to see the rest of her team, Yang was the first to address her

"Sup Blakey, Wow!! What's up with you your blushing like crazy"

"Indeed your face is rivaling Ruby's cape"

"Umm well hehe" was Blake's response a big dopey smile on her face

"Come on tell use?!" Yelled Ruby

"Well you see……… Luna asked me out on a date"

"Oh my gosh!!!!!" Yang screeched at her partners news

"This is quite a surprise, but I suppose it makes sense"

"Yeah you guys are childhood friends and all" said Ruby closing her sisters mouth to put a stop to teasing before it began.

Blake sat next to Yang and asked "so any advice on how to handle a date" the next few hours were spent with Blake getting advice from her team until her scroll went beep she checked it seeing she got a text from Luna.

"Hey I'll pick you at 6 dress fancy"

"Dress fancy?, I wonder why"

"Yeah doesn't seem like Luna to dress fancy" said Yang giving a small shrug.

"Do you even have anything like that wear?" Weiss asked

"Emm not really"

"Well I have a spar dress you can borrow it's a little big for me anyway"

"Oh well thanks Weiss, that's really nice of you"

"Well of course, ain't my partner the best" Ruby said side hugging Weiss

"Thank you" said Weiss accepting the hug

(Meanwhile back with Luna)

"Alright thanks Jerry well be there at seven k" said Luna hanging up her scroll texting Blake the info, after That's was done she began to call her mom.

Ring*

Ring*

"Hello starlight" greeted Cinders voice from the other side of the call "how are you doing"

"I'm doing good I got some really good news"

"Oh really?, What would that be"

"I asked Blake out on a date" came the shy happy voice of Luna

"Really?, So what did she say"

"She said yes"

"Umm Luna?"

"Yes?"

"Why is Neo spazzing out?"

"Uhhhh…….?"

"Hold that thought she's signing something………", "my ship has come true, she's also yelling" Cinder finished

"Oh dust, yes Neo I confessed my feelings to Blake your ship is confirmed or whatever, now can I talk to mom in semi private please"

The sound of footsteps could be heard signaling Neo was leaving "so yeah me and Blake are dating now thought I'd let you know, oh also I'm gonna be wearing the dress you got me"

"I want you to know I'm very happy for but just remember….." Cinder's sentence was finished by her smarty pants daughter

"Just don't let it get in the way of the mission I know I know"

"Have I really become that predictable"said Cinder being all to sarcastic

"Is that sarcasm I detect dearest mother of mine"

"Me sarcastic, never"

"Alright then, I gotta get ready for my date talk to ya soon, love you"

"Love you too starlight"

Going to team Junipers room and knocked on the door and it was answered by Phyrra

"Oh, hello Luna, getting ready for your date?"

"Yeah, thanks again for letting me use your room to get ready, I want my first date experience to be as real as it can get"

"Well again I'm happy we could help"

With that Luna was let in and she walked to the bathroom to freshen up taking a nice boiling hot shower before getting out she began drying her hair a fur once done she stuck her hand out the door asking for her dress, having it passed to her by Jaune.

She changed into her dress which consisted of a long, dark red dress with no sleeves. The edges of the collar and the opening for the arms are gold-colored, the upper chest is decorated with golden designs. On her arms, she wears long, black gloves, the top of which have a gold-colored metal ring with curvy branching extensions going up her arm finishing off with thick black eyeshadow.

(In team Rosyblooms room)

Blake was having a similar experience as Luna taking a shower drying up and changing into the dress Weiss lent her it consisted of a short, purple, asymmetrical, halter neck dress that is split up the right side and has a black collar. Translucent black mesh covers her shoulders, decolletage and back, and decorative black swirls cover the left side of the dress and continue up the left strap. The outfit is completed with black pumps, and she wears a teal bow as opposed to her usual black one along with dark purple eyeshadow, finishing up with getting dressed Blake walked out receiving only positive responses from her teammates.

"Wow!" Ruby marveled. "You look amazing!"

"Damn," Yang whistled. "Wonder if Looney's gonna be able to handle seeing you in that."

"Well all I can say is good luck" said Weiss smiling to Blake

Blake merely nodded and accepted their compliments before picking up a small purse from her bed. She put her scroll inside and slung it over her shoulder.

"I'll be going now," she said.

The others whined.

"Huh? I thought she was gonna come here to pick you up?"

"Hah. I bet she doesn't want us to see Looney all dressed up," Yang guessed. "Wants to keep that image all for herself."

Blake shot her partner a glare that told them all she was right, but she didn't go after her this time because it might ruin her outfit.

She closed the door behind herself and walked down the hall a really happy smile plastered on her face.

(In team Jupiter's room)

Luna stepped out of team Jupiter's bathroom getting very similar reactions from to Juniper as Blake did with there team.

"Alright it's 17:50, I should get going, thanks again guys for letting me use your room to get ready"

"Sure anytime what're friends for if not for helping each other out" said Jaune giving Luna a shrug as she walked out the room and down the hall.

The second she saw Luna, Blake's face heated up without her consent.

"Blake!" she squealed.

Luna tried to rush forward a few feet to reach her, but ended up tripping on her shoes. Thankfully, Blake reacted quickly and caught her by the shoulders.

"Are you all right?"

"Yeah! I mean yes! I'm totally fine! I'm just not used to these shoes..." Luna shook her head and then presented her with a beaming white smile. "You look great, Blake!"

Her eyes were shimmering Crimson . Blake made sure her nails didn't inadvertently curl into Luna's shoulders as she let her go.

"That dress is rather becoming on you as well."

"Really? I'm so glad you think so! I'm not really used to dressing up like this" With that, Luna bounded forward and grabbed Blake's hand. "Come on! Our air ship will be leaving soon, so we gotta go catch it!"

With that, she began walking with Blake down the hallway.

Despite Luna's slight struggle with walking in heels, she seemed to be enjoying herself immensely already.

And of course, Blake didn't mind Luna's leaning on her for support and balance every few steps.

Eventually, they made it to the exit doors of the building, where Blake paused and held the door for her. Luna blushed and thanked her before they continued walking.

The cobblestone paths outside made Luna shakier than before, and she clung tighter to Blake's arm. Blake did her best to keep looking straight ahead, because she knew if she looked at Luna now, stumbling and blushing at her side, Blake herself would start to melt.

They made their way to where the air ships land to find one waiting for them with the doors still open. Luna perked up and gave a little squeak.

"There it is! Let's go!" She began tugging Blake along.

Blake took in a deep breath and started to follow.

The air ship ride into Vale was a little nerve-wracking, a little confusing, and a little exciting.

Naturally, they sat next to one another.

Typically, Luna would get the window seat if at all possible, but tonight, she held back and insisted Blake choose her seat first, and she chose the window. Luna thought that was all right, because if Blake could be her personal view, she wouldn't need the window seat anyway.

As the ship took off, they seemed to be the only silent people on-board. Luna realized this, racking her brain for something to say, while still trying to keep her cool. Luna then realised that Blake was still wearing her bow

"Hey Blake, you know you look better without the bow"

"I suppose it is a little stuffy under it" said Blake as she untied her bow revealing her cat ears, she then tied the bow around Luna's upper arm.

"But you take care of it tonight, ok?"

"Of course"

"I've never really eaten in any of Vale's restaurants before. What is the food like?"

"Oh! There's tons of variety and stuff! Since we're next to the ocean there's tons of huge fish"

Luna easily went off on a tangent about that, and it wasn't long before the awkward air around the two of them faded altogether. The girls began conversing telling jokes laughing just having fun and this was only the start of the date.

By the time the air ship landed, they were so In grossed in the conversation they where both eager to listen but also to share more themselves. The announcement of the landing causes both of them to pause and refocus.

"Oh, we're here!" Luna jumped up from her seat, but stumbled a bit in her heels. "Whoa-"

"Careful." Blake stood right away to steady her by the shoulder. It was obvious Luna wasn't used to heels. And the uneven sidewalks and pavement of a town wouldn't be easy for her to traverse.

Therefore, Blake wordlessly slipped her hand find Luna's and curled their fingers together.

Luna stiffened for a second, before she realized she was the one who would need to be leading Blake, since she was the one who knew where the restaurant was. She didn't address the hand-holding, for fear that if she did, Blake might take it the wrong way and let go.

Clearly, neither of them wanted that. So they didn't suggest otherwise.

"O-Okay!" Luna straightened up, and began leading Blake to the doors. "The restaurant should be just a few blocks from here! I think you're gonna like it!"

Little did she know she could have planned to take Blake to a hot dog stand on the side of the road and she still would've enjoyed herself, so long as she was with Luna.

Luna led the way onto the busy sidewalks, while Blake kept pace beside her, holding onto Luna's hand.

Maybe it was just because she wanted to keep Luna from tripping. Or maybe it was just because they were on a date, so it was acceptable. Either way, neither girl let go.

The evening air was warm in the heart of Vale, where there were so many people and so much activity. As they walked, Luna told story's about things she'd done with her family around the area they walked.

Blake listened and observed as they walked, occasionally needing to pause and tighten her grip on Luna whenever the girl wobbled a little. Luna always thanked her with a sheepish grin.

After about ten minutes of walking, their destination was in sight.

"Oh! We're almost there!" Luna announced.

Blake scanned the place from the outside. The windows were tall and large, and there were many potted plants decorating the entrance. They crossed the street together and made it to the doors without a hitch. Only then did Luna let go of Blake's hand, just so she could hold the door for her.

Luna had gone out with her other teammates and family before, but she'd never been the one to ask for the reservation. She just tried to mimic what she'd seen Weiss and her mom do in the past as she went up to the server behind a small podium near the entrance.

"Two for 'Fall'," she said as maturely as she could.

The woman nodded and began leading them into the seating area. Luna lost all air of maturity in a second as she whirled around and grabbed Blake's hand again.

"This way, this way!"

Blake couldn't help but hide a chuckle as she was pulled along.

They were lead to small but very nice table, where there was one chair on either side. Luna made sure to pull Blake's out for her in an act of chivalry Blake had never been on the receiving end of before. She wasn't sure what to say or do other than dip her head in thanks. Luna took her own seat, then opened up her menu.

"They have a lot of great stuff here! I've only been here once or twice, but their seafood is really good!"

"I'll be the judge of that!," Blake replied, opening her own menu. When their waitress came over to inquire about drinks, Luna replied instinctively.

"I'll have a cold sweet milk, please!"

The drink was a total contrast to the atmosphere of the restaurant, and to the clothes Luna was wearing.

But Blake couldn't see her drinking anything else.

Blake asked simply for a glass of water, which Luna totally expected.

The waitress left to bring their drinks, and when she returned took their orders for meals. Blake asked for a salad and a seafood dish, Luna doing the same albeit different foods.

Once the waitress had collected their menus and left them once again, Luna reached for her milk and noticed the waitress had given her two straws for it. Luna clutched her dress to keep her hands from shaking, but then realized she needed them to open the straws.

She put one into her drink at first, then took a sip to allow the familiar sweet flavor to soothe (or just numb) her nerves. Blake was taking a drink from her glass as well. Luna gulped down her milk before picking up the other straw and offering it to Blake.

"Do you wanna try some?"

Blake was surprised by the offer. She'd never been one for treats such as sweet milk, and she knew Luna wouldn't take offense if she refused. But for whatever reason, Blake accepted the straw and nodded.

The table was small enough to allow them both to lean forward and be able to drink from the glass in the middle. Luna chewed on the end of her straw as she waited for Blake to take a sip. The dark-haired girl sat back a moment later and put her napkin to her mouth. Luna gulped down a mouthful.

"What do you think?"

Blake mainly put the napkin to her lips to hide the fact that she was biting them due to an intense numbing sensation.

"It's good," she said tightly. "And very cold."

"Oh, did you get brain freeze?"

"I think so..."

"Ahh okay! I heard pushing your tongue to the roof of your mouth is a good idea!" Luna was taking this so seriously, but Blake just ended up laughing again.

"It's all right. I'm just not used to such cold drinks."

"Oh... Then I'm glad!"

They laughed it off after that, and it was then Luna realized they were drawing a bit of attention from the people around them.

Almost everyone else here was older, also formally dressed, and minding their own business. But a few tables' worth of customers seemed to be close in age to Blake and herself, and just because they were wearing suits didn't mean they were any less immature.

Luna sent a glare at the table of boys not far from them she heard them making stupid comments on how they could get any girl, she did not intend to make eye contact, but merely to observe them. Of course, one of them ended up turning around and saw her, then winked and blew a kiss.

Luna narrowed her eyes like a hawk honing in on prey, and a slight rise in temperature made the entire restaurant shift a little. Blake glanced briefly at the boys, but didn't want Luna to get upset. So Blake quickly tried to gain her attention back.

"Can I have another sip? I think I'm used to brain freeze, so the milk should taste better!"

Luna tore her gaze away from the boys and gave her full attention back to her date.

"Yeah sure."

Not only did the flavors really taste better now, but the milk also served to cool her down a bit. When Luna leaned forward with a smile and a giggle, and began drinking from her straw too, Blake internally melted all over again.

Their food was soon brought out, and they began enjoying themselves. Luna asked her how her food was, to which Blake replied approvingly.

They chatted casually in between bites of food, sips of drinks, and dabs of napkins. Their first date together was going extremely well.

That is, until one of those boys decided to interfere.

He sauntered over to the table, and Luna saw him coming before he himself even knew what he was going to do. She put her utensils down and squared her shoulders to face him. If he spoke so much as one word to Blake, Luna was prepared to do anything to chase him off.

To her distane, he passed her and went to Blake.

"Excuse me, miss?" he said with a smile. "I hope you don't mind my asking, but did you fall from the sky? Because you look like an angel"

Luna let out a sharp, hot breath causing a bit of smoke to puff. She didn't want to set the place of her first date with Blake on fire, but she would if she was pushed.

Blake was about to open her mouth respond but to her surprise something happened that she could only describe as heartwarming.

Calming herself Luna responded "Excuse me, but um, we're kind of in the middle of dinner."

She wasn't trying to be confrontational. Rather, Blake could tell she was putting on an act to appear innocent and timid with her speech, but her eyes were clear and stern.

The boy turned to look at her, only mildly interested.

"Oh, pardon me. But I believe I was addressing this young lady here-"

"Oh, and I believe..." Luna cut him off. "She was enjoying her meal with me before you butted in."

"Hey listen, she was sending me signals-"

"Oh, was she?" Luna laughed. "Because the last time I checked, a quick glance and then completely ignoring someone wasn't an invitation to come flirt with them. It meant they don't care for my existence and I should leave them alone. So you can go tell your buddies to keep their money, because placing bets and daring each other to ask people out for money is probably the lowest you can go. How about you use that money to pay for your meal instead of eating and running like you were planning?"

By then, they had drawn a lot of attention, from customers and staff alike. Luna was firm and unwavering in her accusations, and the boy recoiled and started to sweat. Some waitresses approached the other boys to confront them and demand they pay their bill.

The one Luna was staring down didn't say another word before limping back to his table. She watched him go, then sit down once again and faced Blake, the temperature falling as she calmed down.

"Sorry about that," she said with a pout. "Guys like that are the worst. My friend always gets harassed, so I learned how to deal with them from her. Compared to her, I think I was pretty nice about it, though." Then, her eyebrows furrowed in concern. "Are you okay, Blake? I'm sorry. I hope he didn't make you upset."

But Blake only shook her head.

"Not at all."

"You sure? Okay. That's good. Sorry. I know you could've handled him on your own, but this date was my idea and I wanna make sure everything goes smoothly so I felt I kinda had to-"

"Luna." Blake smiles calmly. "It's all right. Thank you."

With that, both of them calm down and get their bearings back.

As they finish their meals, Luna apologizes to their waitress for causing a bit of a scene. But the woman tells them the boys were indeed intending to eat and run, so they made sure to address that and ban them from the restaurant. All in all, things worked out somehow.

Eventually, they took their leave, and Luna even covered the bill. As Blake took her hand again and followed her outside, she realized she'd never had her meal paid for on a date before.

She'd been flirted with a few times before, but never had her date stand up for her as Luna had. Luna had acknowledged the fact that she knew Blake could take care of herself, but she hadn't made her do so.

Blake couldn't accurately describe how nice it had felt to have someone else – especially someone like Luna – stand up for her.

Luna could sometimes give off the impression that she needed to be taken care of. But that certainly wasn't the case.

Well, at least in terms of boys and monsters.

But there were two things Luna seemed defenseless against.

Those heels of hers kept tripping her up on their walk back, to the point where Blake needed to put an arm around her back and guide her every step. Luna chuckled nervously and clung to her arm.

"S-Sorry..."

"Don't be. Your feet hurt, don't they?"

"Yeah. I just... wanted to dress nice and look fancy for you tonight. But I guess I'm no good at it, huh?"

"Nonsense," Blake says. "You were rather good at it in all regards. I'll admit I've been on a few dates before, but never one as enjoyable as this."

"R-Really? You mean it?"

"I do."

To spare Luna more pain in her ankles, Blake hailed a cab for them to take them back to the air ships.

On the way back to Beacon, they chatted a little more softly, their hands in each other's all the while. They landed, and Luna untied the bow from her arm handing it back to Blake, She tied it up and helped Luna back inside.

The two made there way to the dorm room and stopped right outside.

"Thank you, Luna."

"It was my pleasure! Trust me!"

And with that, Blake was ready to take her leave. But Luna reached out to take her hand again and stopped her.

looking into Luna's eyes curiously. Luna swallowed, then knelt down a little. Blake leaned in a little and closed her eyes.

Luna kissed her lips, very softly and very sweetly.

Blake felt herself stiffen a little and heard Luna make a small squeaking sound, as though she couldn't believe what she'd just done.

Blake also needed a moment to regain her composure, hiding her face behind her hair to conceal her blush. Luna wobbled back to the door.

Opening the door holding it for a still hidin blush Blake they both realised there team were already asleep so they both took turns quietly cleaning off there makeup and changing into there pajamas and climbing into there shared bed looking at each other with lovestruck smiles.

Both of them lifted there hands and began holding each others.

"Good night..." they said in unison

Thus, their first date concluded with the two sleeping blissfully in each other's arms big dopey smiles stuck on there faces.


	20. Chapter 20

Luna and Blake could be seen running threw the streets of vale in the direction of the docks a few weeks had passed since their first date and the weekend were students could visit there family's had finally come and Luna had invited Blake to stay over at the holiday warehouse her uncle had, she agreed and they were on there way there.

Before long, they had arrived at Warehouse 236, slightly out of breath as they had to push themselves a little more and saw Neo waiting for her outside with a small smile and bag by her side.

Luna smiled widely, eagerly running up to her sister with hands in front of her. "Neo!" She called out in excitement, throwing a hug around the shorter girl when they were in reach of each other. They quickly released their hugs, still holding each other's forearms lightly as the two of them bounced excitedly in place. "It's been so long! I missed you soooo much!"

Neo's eyes switched colors really quickly, a sign Luna easily read as her expressing the same sentiments as the two of them settled down. The petite girl then bent over to lift the bag by her side, holding it out for Luna.

Luna excitedly hopped in place before taking the bag and unzipping it. Looking in, she saw a small fudge cake along with a strawberry puff the look of glee that spread across both faunes face as the saw the delicious treats, Luna passed Blake her strawberry puff as she dug into her cake.

"Thnk uw o mush Meo" said Luna threw her many chews

Blake however took the more polite approach finishing her puff before responding "thanks a lot Neo, it's good to see you again"

Instead of responding with signs Neo just wrapped Blake up in a hug as far as Neo was concerned Blake was part of the family unwrapping from the hug Neo handed Blake her white fang general mask she picked off her person

"You really can't help but mess with me can you" Blake asked smirking at the petite girl as she took the mask and put it on looking toward her girlfriend to see her wearing her light Grimm armor.

"Let's go you two don't wanna keep mom and uncle Ro waitin" said Luna walking into the warehouse.

"Hey! Firecracker and Shroud are back!"

"What?"

"Really?!"

"Oh thank dust! Finally!"

Mercury and Emerald were nearly pushed to the side by a whole group of White Fang members, causing them to spin and nearly stumble as they all rushed over to Luna and Blake and greeted them in happiness.

"Hey guys!" Luna grinned "Hello everyone" smirked Blake as they were showered with handshakes, pats on the back, fist bumps, high fives, and the occasional friendly shoulder bump. (Full hugs and embraces were off limits apparently).

Just about every White Fang member at the main base knew "Firecracker and Shroud" (as they all knew them as Cinder's daughter and Firecracker's new girlfriend and Luna and Blake didn't want to give there actual names to minimize the possibility of her name being given in an off chance a member was caught or held hostage), and they all adored them, or at the very least, are happy to find them present. In the beginning though, they didn't think much of Luna and had thought of her as some brat that walked around the base thinking she was all that for being close to Cinder and everyone else in her gang.

After a few months the members of the organization found that she actually wasn't bratty, instead she was just this happy kid who was eager to try and "help" around and soon, everyone just enjoyed seeing a kid running around doing mundane errands or trailing after someone.

They also noticed the complete difference in their bosses' moods when she was around versus when she was gone, so her presence at the base was typically anticipated for just about everyone.

And after an incident of some jerk trying to bully her, everyone quickly learned that an unhappy Luna meant VERY unhappy bosses, and unhappy bosses were incredibly frightening. They also learned that Cinder, Roman, and Neo in particular have something like a sixth sense meant for Luna, and they can usually sense if something is amiss with her, and find her in minutes. If those three didn't sense anything, and Luna tried to hide something, then Mercury and Emerald can tell immediately that something is wrong and can convince her to cough up whatever has happened.

This was unfortunately learned during the incident with the jerks, as they had fooled a 11 year old Luna into going into a supply closet to "help with something", and locked her in there. They had claimed that they were sick and tired of seeing everyone bend over backwards for some brat and threatened to hurt her if she told on them.

Regardless of the threat Luna still told on them this resulted in the main offender locked in a room with Cinder and Luna whilst his conspirator were forced to watch, needless to say they were to traumatized to tell anyone what happened and the main offender unsurprisingly resigned shortly after.

Needless to say, the members of the White Fang had ensured that Luna was never bullied like that ever again, whether it was out of fondness or out of fear, it didn't matter.

It wasn't that difficult as she was rather easy to watch over as a kid and quickly became known to "look after" those working with her, ensuring that everyone with her was relatively happy and as she grew older, safe. From a kid, she would ensure her "caretakers" were having fun, engaging them in silly activities and occasionally sharing a snack.

As she started learning how to fight and started participating in-group missions, she carried first aid kits in the case someone got hurt and ensured no one got left behind. And when she got hurt and Cinder blamed those who were supposed to keep an eye out for her, she would quickly interject and make sure no harm came to them. (Like in the incident when she was helping members transport cargo and the police nearly caught her.)

So it was no surprise for Luna to be rather popular and liked at the base. Especially at the moment, with everyone being extremely grateful for her presence as the last two months had been incredibly tough on all of them. Cinder and Neo were both ak lot more violent than usual, and the former especially had turned incredibly intimidating. Roman and Emerald had both turned verbally abusive, irritable, and impatient, snapping at those who weren't working to their standards and expectations.

Mercury had become an insufferable taskmaster and troublemaker as he was seemingly always looking for a fight considering he lost his sparring buddy. And as the days continued by, it became evident that they all were struggling to accommodate to their new home situation.

Cinder would become more agitated and stressed, taking her anger out on anyone she could. In turn, everyone else in the house would become more stressed and antsy as well, taking it out on those working under them.

Not much was known about Shroud as far as the white fang members were concerned but they still appreciated her non the less some people even heard from some of the higher ups that she was with the white fang even back in the non aggression phase of the organization, to everyone there she was a true white fang general and the fact she was the girlfriend of Firecracker was a shock but a nice one, it also helped that their bosses also seemed to lighten up on them a little whenever she showed up.

Overall, the members of the White Fang were simply ecstatic to see Luna and Blake. Not only would their bosses take it easier on them all, but typically their personalities changed and they all began to regularly rewarded the members of the White Fang. This complete change in their moods were much more preferred.

"Alright ALRIGHT! That's enough!" Mercury shouted, causing everyone to quiet down as he pushed his way through the crowd. "We can all suck up to them some other time, now get in your groups and your asses back to work." He ordered, causing them all to grumble as they went on their ways.

Emerald sighed, dragging her hand down her face. "God, it's like they can't think when you two are around." She stated as Neo nodded in agreement

Luna stuck her tongue out at the two, "It's cause you guys are always so mean to them."

"And you're too nice." Emerald accused

Luna huffed, crossing her arms and hugging her prop. "Someone's got to be."

Mercury rolled his eyes in amusement before affectionately ruffling her hood. "You got that right at least." He sighed turning around "now come on your moms in the back waitin for ya"

The trio followed Mercury and Emerald through a back door revealing a living room with Cinder and Roman sitting on the very large sofa watching tv.

With the sound of the door opening Cinder turned around to see her daughter entering, so she got up speed walked over to her a wrapped her in a hug

"Oh starlight it's so good to have you staying over for the weekend"

"Thanks mom, this is gonna be the best weekend ever, spending time with my family, my girlfriend it's gonna be the great"

"You got that right kiddo, so what you wanna do first?"

The group looked to Neo who seemed really excited as she began to sign "oh oh I know let's go shopping we haven't done that in ages"

"That sounds like a great idea Neo" said Cinder clapping her hands together

"I have been thinking of getting a new outfit" said Emerald looking at her current attire

"Sounds like fun to me" said Blake looking toward Roman and Mercury

"Oh no, don't go looking at us like that you gals can go shopping but leave us out of that" said Mercury raising his hands in defense

"For once I agree with you" nodded Roman

"Alright let's go shopping!!!" Yelled Luna pumping her fist into the air.

(30 minutes later in Vale shopping district)

"Ahhh, it's been so long since I had a nice shopping trip, this is gonna be great" sighed Luna breathing in a large amount of air.

"Yeah, it's nice to have some good old fashioned girl time" Blake agreed

"So which store should we go to first?" Asked Emerald

"I say we go to that store over there" said Cinder pointing at a store with a sigh displaying a t shirt with an anvil and hammer on it

"Yeah we can all get new combat cloths" signed Neo

"Agreement" nodded Luna as she walked to the store

The group all made there way into the store being greeted by the sight of a rows of cloths different in sizes and colors, shelf's of armor pieces and armor enhancing threads, it was a decent sized store and cozy to boot

"Ahh welcome welcome come on in" said a elderly man from behind a counter

The group walked up to the counter Luna waving at the old timer "so how can I help you lovely lady's today?"

"Just browsing for combat cloths" responded Cinder

"So what'll it be ya lookin for some armor pieces, enhanced cloths?"

"Enhance cloths please" said Luna smiling away

"Alrighty then we got a large selection right this way"

The elderly man lead the group to show of the selection, the group spent the next few hours trying on cloths commenting on each other's choice in fashion until Luna, Blake and Emerald had all decided on what to wear.

Blake choose a sleeveless black crop top. The crop top has rectangular and diamond-shaped cutouts around the neckline. Additionally, she choose a white belt over black fitted pants, with thigh-high black heeled boots with gold-colored edging around the top. The left boot has a belt wrapped twice around the thigh. Each boot bears her belladonna emblem in white on the outer side of the thigh, and a white pouch is attached to the back of her belt.

Emerald choose a short olive-colored crop top, her signature chaps and belt. Beneath her chaps, she wore dark green pants and plain dark brown flat shoes along with white half-gloves.

And finally Luna choose a black crop leather jacket leaving her midriff exposed sowing off her 6 pack (basically misaka physique) with the sleeves stoping halfway to her elbow, an orange tank top with gold wrist bands, flexible black skinny jeans with orange flame designs on the knee caps, along with black runners with yellow lightning bolts on the sides.

"You three look great" said Cinder looking over the three girls "but Neo are you sure you don't want anything" she asked looking toward the petite girl

"Nah I'm fine I like my outfit the way it is, but more importantly, Holy hell Luna when'd you get so ripped!?"

"Well when I was training with grandma she normally got me to do no aura exercises so you know harder workouts, so you know harder exercises better results"

"I must say they definitely worked" said Blake giving Luna a small kiss on the cheek "I think you look great like this"

"Speak for yourself, miss lean mean cutie machine" responded Luna with her own cheek kiss

"Eh hem, as much as Neo is enjoying this could you please leave the flirting for later" said Emerald looking down in distain

"Your just jealous Luna's dating me and not you" said Blake giving a cocky smirk

"Aww Emerald I didn't know you felt that way about me" said Luna following Blakes plan

"WHAT!? I…. never even…..uggh you……you dummy head" Emerald stuttered

"As amusing as this is maybe we should get some food before heading home" said Cinder placing her hand over her mouth holding back a giggle.

"Yeah I'm starved after trying on all those cloths let's pay for these and bolt" said Luna still smiling at Emeralds reaction

The group proceeded to pay for there clothes and walk to the food court to continue to enjoy there girls day out with some nice food.

(Meanwhile à bit away from the city of vale)

The women from the docks also known as Masky was standing in a room inside the berserk grizzlies secret base the room was simple a desk with many papers and other things on it was placed in the center, a hammock hung from the ceiling in the left corner of the room and a small amount of workout equipment on the right side of the room.

She walked out the room to observe the operation she had recently taken over when a member of the berserk grizzlies came up to her

"Hey boss we gathered up some more explosive dust is this enough?" Asked a very nervous teenage boy

Masky looked over the edge of the railing to see the ship crates filled to the brim with different kinds of dust

"Yes it is enough, inform team A to begin construction of the bomb and tell team B to begin turning sections C and D's crates into ammo"

"Alright boss, I'm on it"

Masky walked back into the room and toward her desk picking up a picture frame with Mia Drake standing with the rest of her team accompanied by team STRQ, she took of her mask revealing a pale face with red eyes, she wiped away the single tear she shed.

"Don't worry Mia, Luna's doing just fine, she's fallen to less then desired company but she is loved and safe" placing the picture back on her desk as an image of a familiar headmaster flashed in her head "You will pay Ozpin!, You will pay for what you did to her!" Growled Masky

(Back in Vale)

The group now finished with there day out began boarding ther private airship flown by Hobbs, Luna after having a great time did feel a little drained.

"That was fun, should do this more often" said Luna sitting beside her mom a and sister looking to everyone

"I agree this was quite fun" agreed Cinder before she gently pulling her daughter into a hug, tucking her head under her chin and lightly running her finger's through her hair

Luna nodded as she brought her hands up to return the hug, snuggling deeper into her mother's embrace. "I missed you guys." She stated

"We missed you too." Cinder replied affectionately.

"I concere!" Hobbs called out from the pilot's seat "I apologize miss sustrei but it quite fun seeing you fall for mr Black and Luna's pranks, they always look like there having so much fun will your chasing them".

Emerald growled, "Speak for yourself, I didn't miss those stunts she pulled at all." She stated, before her voice soften. "But I… did miss you. It doesn't feel right when you aren't there to pester me or rope me in to do something with you."

"The feelings mutual Emmy" said Luna fully relaxed by her mothers hug

Luna missed her mother's warm hugs, and had gotten use to receiving at least three of them on a daily basis. She could tell that her mother missed her hugs just as much, if not more, especially when Luna could easily remember all the times Cinder would demand for one for whatever silly excuse she could think of. "I need a hug for good luck", "Luna, take my stress away", "It's cold", "After meal hugs help digest food", "Share some of your happiness", "In Mistral, hugs are a way to greet people", and whatever other reason Cinder could keep up with.

Luna didn't mind, in fact she loved it and would occasionally do the same to her mom (though, she must confess that she is not as creative as her). The lack of hugs they had been receiving from each other meant that the two had a bunch of hugs to make up for.

And although she didn't give everyone else in the house nearly as many hugs, she still gave (or forced) a hug at least once a week.

Hobbs killed the engine before he and Emerald quickly opened the doors and hopped out. Luna tried to follow suit, but found that Cinder wouldn't let go.

"Mom!" Luna whined, struggling to get out of her mother's embrace, "Let go! We need to check up on the guys!"

Cinder merely stayed silent for a moment, unmoving, until she slowly began to sink her weight over Luna's shoulders followed shortly by Neo.

At the first sign of extra weight pushing her down, Luna's eyes widened in realization, knowing fully well what her mom and sister were about to do. "NO! NO DON'T YOUS DO IT!" Luna cried, trying her best to move forward and escape from her mom and sister, something that would be impossible seeing as Cinder and Neo still had there arms wrapped around Luna and only causing her to slightly drag them a mere inch.

"But Starlight, were so tired." Cinder dramatically sighed, sinking more of her weight onto her daughter as she did so, "All that work I had to do carrying all those bags, were all tuckered out, so you have no other choice…you have to carry use."

"Carry yourselfs you lazy butts! You're too heavy for me!" Luna retorted, her body slowly giving out with her knees nearly touching the ground as she slowly approached the door.

"But sweetie," Cinder sighed again, causing the rest of her weight to be pressed onto Luna's shoulders.

"You simply must."

At the end of that statement, Luna flopped onto the ground, unable to hold all that extra weight any longer thanks to already being drained. "AGH! Get off of me, mom, sis!" Luna groaned, her hands and legs flailing onto the floor of the jet.

"I can't." Her mother deadpanned, "I'm too tired and I just don't have the energy to do what you ask."

"You barely did anything!" Luna protested, "You carried like, 2 bags!"

Cinder merely hummed, folding her arms together and resting them on top of Luna's upper back. "More like 2 dozen."

"Bah! I've seen you carry way more and not even break a sweat!" Luna accused, her head trying to rise up and her eyes rolling to the top in an attempt to make eye contact with either her sister or mother.

The older woman let out another dramatic sigh, resting her head against the back of her daughters

"But starlight were just so exhausted, you have no choice but to carry us"

"I can't do that! You're both too heavy!" Luna stated, "Besides, we're on the floor now!"

"Well, I absolutely have no qualms against having you crawl." Cinder cheekily stated, raising her head to look down at the back of Luna's head in amusement, "Why, you could be our royal carriage, or our royal steed. Either way works as long as you take use to whatever destination we have in mind, treating use like the royalty we are."

"Well you're acting like a royal pain!" Luna groaned, plopping her face into the floor as Roman, Mercury, came by and watched in amusement while the entire groups of the White Fang tried to peer over them falling to see what was going on, making sure they were keeping a good dozen feet away from their bosses.

"Hm, you're lucky you're my daughter and I love you," Cinder commented. "Otherwise I would have you persecuted on the spot for the insubordination you have just displayed to your superiors."

"You're superior alright, superior pains in my butt." Luna deadpanned into the floor.

Her comeback caused Roman, Mercury, Emerald, Blake, and Neo to snort. The White Fang members that heard her were all shocked into silence at someone, even her daughter, daring to speak to Cinder like that. But they were shocked out of their fear as the former four were overcome with laughter, giggles, and chuckles.

The happiness displayed by the household bewildered the rest of the White Fang, but before long, the tense mood was suddenly released, replaced with a light feeling of warmth amongst them.

"You should watch your tongue, little girl," Cinder lightly threatened. "I still know exactly where your weak spots are and I'm not above using such tactics."

Luna gasped, fully understanding what Cinder had meant, and immediately began squirming, shouting in protest. "No! You can't do that! That's cheating!"

"All is fair in love and war." Cinder drawled, "We commend you for your vigilance soldier, but for you continued wrongs against your leader, I have no choice but to prosecute you."

"No! No! No!" Luna protested, still trying her best to escape against her mother's clutches. "You guys! Help!" She pleaded, looking up at Roman, Blake, Emerald, and Mercury anyone at this stage.

"Hm… I don't know Kiddo." Roman hummed, tapping a finger against his chin in thought. "You did kind of slander our leader." He said with a mischievous grin, Neo nodding along with him and holding a similar expression.

"In fact, we would be remiss in not supporting her in this decision. Right Em?" Mercury chipped.

"I get her feet, care to join me Blake." Emerald proclaimed, jumping up onto the jet and scurrying over to Luna's feet and grabbing one of them. Quickly, she began to pry off the girl's shoes.

"Sure, should be fun" said Blake following Emeralds lead giving her girlfriend an evil smile..

Luna began to redouble her efforts, struggling to break free as she began screaming. "TRAITORS!" in protest.

Her pleas went unheard of though, as Mercury raised his hand next, "I'll hold her hands down!" He volunteered, grabbing hold of both Luna's hands and holding them above her head and out of the door.

"My-my," Roman claimed, plucking the feather off his hat. "I suppose that leaves me to deal with her neck."

Cinder merely sat up, climbing onto Luna's upper back to give more room for Neo to sit on Luna's lower back. To give themselves more space, Neo pressed her back against Cinder's.

"Ready?" The esteemed leader asked

"No! I take it back! I take it back!" Luna protested

"Hm. Too late." Cinder stated.

And all at once, the six began wiggling their fingers or feather at each tickle spot they knew on Luna, causing her to squeal in laughter and protest as the rest of the White Fang watched in amusement.

Before long, chuckles began to reverberate amongst them and wide, happy smiles graced the small happy household.

Luna was home, everyone was happy.

(The next day)

Cinder looked around in the dark abyss surrounding her. Her glass heels clicked with each step despite no floor being set in sight. As she kept walking, gray, shadowy figures surfaced ahead of her, sliding off to the side when she got close to them to create a path. Passing by each figure, they would hiss something at her before dispersing into the air.

"You're done here. Take your money and leave."

"Alright kid, here's your money. Now beat it."

"Scram!"

"Go away, I don't got work for you."

"Try again next time."

"Oh, You're still here?"

"What do you want? There's nothing here for you!"

Each one would tell her its' own variation for her to leave, sometimes with money, but other times there were no context for her unwanted presence. She would oblige by continuously walking. To where though? She did not know. There was nowhere for her to go, no light around for her to see where she was going.

She was alone.

A figure formed in front of her, this time more solid and familiar than all the others, and the sight of Roman caused her to stop.

"Your eyes…" He said, his voice young and raspy as though he were in pain. "They look like mine."

Cinder looked into his dark green eyes; dull, filled with emptiness, and no sense of ambition, but they were not like hers. His eyes were missing other components that she held.

Loneliness.

The thought made another figure form beside him; shorter, skinnier, more feminine, with eyes that would change colors at each blink, but filled with the same dullness and emptiness as his.

Roman had someone; he Neo to help him make it through his existence. And Neo had him.

Their eyes looked nothing like Cinder's.

With that thought, their shadowy figures dispersed into the air at the same time white snow began to gently fall.

The clicking of her heels slowly turned into the crunching of snow, and once again, she walked in solitude without any shadowy presences forming before her.

But… There was something missing…

She continued walking through the empty cold regardless of the feeling. The snow seemed to fall just as slowly as each step she took. There didn't seem to be any presence of wind as each snowflake fell unperturbed. But, like the shadowy figures from before, each snowflake parted around her, avoiding her.

The sound of joyful giggling broke the silence, causing Cinder's head to snap up and her eyes to focus. She stopped walking, turning her head, whipping it around and twisting her body to find the source of happiness.

Nothing.

More laughter was heard though, echoing and reverberating through the vast emptiness. When finally…

"C'mon mom! Catch me if you can!"

Cinder turned toward the direction of the sound, eyes locking in on a girl running toward her with a joyful look in her crimson eyes that were filled with mirth with her tiger tail trailing behind her.

Cinder's stoic demeanor loosened, allowing a small smile to form on her face as she bent down to catch the girl.

Only for her to pass right through Cinder's body.

Her smile slowly fell. Just as slowly, she straightened back up to stand and slowly turned around.

The tiger girl continued giggling as she ran and turned her head back, "C'mon slowpoke!"

Cinder tried to run after, but she found her feet frozen in place. She panicked, about to call after the girl to wait, but in its place another voice, not her own, came forth.

"Wait for me sweetie!" The new voice called out.

Cinder tried to turn her head to find the owner of the voice, but felt their presence instead.

A shadowy and female-like figure passed through Cinder's body and caused a cold feeling to spread through Cinder as it did so. The shadow chased after Luna with giggles.

"You'll never catch me mom!" Luna proclaimed as she continued running.

"Just you wait! I'll get you!" The shadow declared, getting closer and closer to Luna and causing her to joyfully squeal.

Horrified, Cinder tried to call out for Luna, to tell her that no. That thing isn't her mother. To call out and tell her that Cinder was right there and please not to leave her. To wait, to come back, that Cinder was her mother, oh God please don't abandon her.

But Luna continued running away, getting further and further away from Cinder. And with each step, the ice that had formed around her feet spread further up her body.

Until finally, only the cold surrounded Cinder, the ice taking hold of her body to keep it in place, and became her only company.

Cinder woke with an abrupt start and cold sweat. The fear had still held its' place around her heart, causing it to wildly beat against her chest. Grabbing hold of her surroundings, Cinder slowly began to calm down.

It was just a dream.

She gave a heavy sigh of relief as she repeated the thought to herself.

It was just a dream.

Her nerves were calmed as she heard the familiar sounds of her giggling along with snickering outside in the hallway, causing relief to spread through her once again.

Though, it was short lived as a throbbing headache made itself known, reminding her that if she's awake, then she would suffer until she would consume a caffeinated substance to help her get through the day.

Another round of giggling was heard, this time with a shushing sound.

… She should also check on her mischievous daughter to ensure she wasn't doing something horrendous. With a groan, Cinder groggily climbed out of bed, dragging her feet across the cold wooden floors. She gently pushed open her bedroom door and stumbled into the hallway. Upon turning, the familiar sight of her daughter in her pajamas, made Cinder quirk a small smile. Her smile quickly turned into a small, suspicious, frown though when she noticed Luna and a still pajama clad Mercury and Blake all peeking into Emeralds room while giggling and snickering and shushing each other.

Cinder glanced down at Mercury's prosthetics. Noting that they had just recently been cleaned and finely tuned, something he had been forgetting and avoiding to do regularly the past few months, a product of Luna not being around to help or watch him do so.

She glanced back up at his face, eyes twinkling with mirth and amusement, things that had been severely lacking during the past weeks and were replaced with quiet, cold anger that was ready to be released at any given moment. His quick snaps would be swiftly followed with him looming over anyone who fueled his ire, his body tense and ready to lash out, itching to look for a fight.

"What are the three of you up to?" causing all of them to snap up to attention and feigning nonchalance.

"Nothing!" Mercury said

"We weren't doing anything! Honest!" Luna tried

Cinder stared at them, causing the three to fidget under her gaze.

"I'll go get started on making some coffee!" Blake announced, quickly scurrying away.

"I'll help!" Luna proclaimed, zooming after her with a giggle and causing her to snicker as they both quietly ran down the stairs.

Cinder decided to leave it at that, as the statement and promise of coffee distracted her and lured her away from the subject, slowly following the two to the kitchen while dragging her feet with Mercury in tow.

Swaying dangerously down the wooden stairs, she continued treading through and across the living room, then the family room, through the dining room, and to the open bar. She slowly eased herself onto the chair, and lowered her upper body on the bar as she held her head in her hands. The smell of coffee being brewed invaded her nose and made her sigh and relax her body in contentment.

Luna snickered at the sight, "I almost forgot that you can't function without coffee." She teased from the kitchen side.

The action caused Cinder to frown. "I function better than you do when you haven't had cake and sweet milk." She smirked

"She's got you there, Squirt." Mercury gestured toward Luna with a hand and leaning back on the bar as well. "I remember the last time you didn't have either one of them for a whole day, you were all jittery and nervous, you caught fire way to often! I didn't even know that was possible until that happened. You have a problem."

"No I don't!" Luna denied, "I don't know what you guys are talking about! I was fine! Totally fine! You want to know why? Because that never happened." She huffed, sticking her nose in the air.

"Oh. If that's the case, I suppose you won't have any problem with knowing that we don't have either in stock." Cinder hummed

Luna gasped, "You're lying! That's not true! It can't be true! We need to have them!"

"Need?" Blake quoted whilst resting herself on Luna's back.

"Yes Blake, need!" Luna hissed

"I do believe, dearest daughter, that Mercury and Blake are correct." Cinder said, "You have a problem."

"No I don't!" Luna continued denying, "If anyone here has a problem it's-"

A sudden screech of "LUUUNA!" rang through the house as the sounds akin to a stampede followed after along with a door slamming open and more stomping. Each sound made Cinder wince and groan as they made her headache worse.

Finally, only the sounds of angry huffs were left. When Cinder turned her head, she was greeted with the sight of Emerald covered in shaving cream from the top of her head to her stomach, with feathers sticking out of from her hair and on her body. Her eyes were a lot more red than usual, emphasized by her heated glare.

Mercury, Luna and Blake were trying to hold back their snickers, and failing admirably so.

"What the HELL is this?!" Emerald demanded.

Luna snickered, leaning against Mercury as he did the same to her. "Looks like… you got to shave off some feathers." She stated, causing another round of loud snickering to occur between her, Blake and Mercury

Emerald let out a growl, her fists shaking as she began a round of reprimands at the two. Though not out of rage, just annoyance at the three for pulling such a stunt on her.

Seeing her like this, it was difficult to remember that when Emerald had first been recruited, she had actually been quieter and skittish, always afraid to speak her mind and had difficulty processing her emotions.

That can happen when one had been placed and raised in a bad orphanage. The supervisor had been horrendous, putting the children in the orphanage to work and holding them all to high expectations, as it was only natural. Yet never bothering to give any of them the time of day. Food was scarce in the orphanage as well; it wasn't uncommon for each child to get one meal a day, as the orphanage was over-crowded, and not well funded. That meant nothing to the supervisor though if there was a particular child that wasn't liked, the supervisor would not even bothering to give the child that one meal.

This was a normal occurrence for Emerald as her looks were exotic and her semblance had been unlocked early on. The supervisor had thought her a witch, a freak of nature, and was sure to let Emerald know during her every waking moment. Even all of the other children didn't want anything to do with Emerald, and as children, they typically would follow the role of the adult they were under the care of and call her names as well or avoid her. Some children, the supervisor's favorites, would unload their chores onto Emerald for her to do, threatening to tell on her if she didn't do so as the supervisor would believe them and not her. After the feeling of constant hunger, the lack of interaction, and tiresome work, Emerald had finally had enough, and ran away from the orphanage at the tender age of 11.

From there similar experience they both had with shitty orphanages Emerald and Luna had gained something of a kinship, helping Emerald situate herself within the crew in a relatively short amount of time.

The angry Emerald along with the snickering of the other three were not helping the coffee addict known as Cinder's mood which was reflected by her mood

"Shut. UP." Cinder growled, throwing Emerald a vicious glare, emphasized by her eyes glowing.

Mercury and Emerald immediately snapped their mouths closed with an audible click.

Luna frowned at her Cinder before chiding her for her behavior. "Mom, I know you haven't had your coffee yet, but you need to stop being so grouchy."

Cinder merely grumbled as she buried her head into her hands once again. She just wanted her coffee.

"What's with all the noise?" Roman asked, emerging from the stairway slouched over and rubbing an eye. Neo sleepily trailed after him, swaying lightly from side to side as she mirrored his action, rubbing her own eye. "It's too early for you guys to be causing such a ruckus…" He said with a tint of annoyance as they continued making their way to the open bar.

The two new arrivals were about to pass Emerald, but paused and turned their heads in sync.

They stared at her plainly, and at once, both of the corners of their mouths quirked up in amusement and let out a snort of amusement.

The action caused them both to groan and clutch their head as their already prevailing headache worsened for a fraction.

Emerald on the other hand, huffed in annoyance at the happiness they were showing from her expense, stomping away back upstairs to clean herself up.

"What a lovely way to start the morning…" Roman groaned, running a hand through his messy hair. It was a habit he did when he was a little stress, though it typically showed in a manner of him fixing his hat.

"Good morning Roman!" Luna happily chirped, leaning on the bar with her arms crossed on top of the surface. "Sleep well?"

"Like a baby." Roman yawned reaching across to affectionately ruffle Luna's head and ears in greeting.

Luna beamed under the attention giving a small purr, though it quickly turned apprehensive once she remembered Mercury was standing nearby, causing her eyes to dart between the two boys.

Roman and Mercury have always had an odd relationship. Initially, Roman simply just did not like Mercury when he first started living at the house, the older boy would always frown in disapproval at the younger's direction or suspiciously glare at him. The cause of Roman's disapproval was most likely due to Mercury's support toward Luna's prancing habit. Mercury on the other hand, plainly just did not like anyone and had scowled at everyone who looked his way. Noticing Roman's constant attention on him whenever the older boy was in the house though, Mercury was always sure to bring it up and attempt to start a fight between the two. Though, Roman made sure not to be provoked into it, he sure didn't put a stop to their disputes.

After Mercury had warmed up to the youngest household member, one would have assumed he and Roman would make peace and get along. In place of that scenario, tensions between the two skyrocketed. It seemed that instead of bonding over their shared views and soft spots for Luna, their competitive aspects of their personality emerged and took control when one saw the other showing affection of any sort toward the young girl.

As Emerald would often say when she noticed Mercury doing something or helping Luna out, it was a competition of finding out who the award for best realative of the year would go to. (Neo would sign to Roman that it was more like a competition of measuring who was the most whipped, as they would often throw each other smug smirks when they did something Luna wanted to do without complaint.

For example, Neo once convinced Luna to give a very frilly apron with ribbons and sparkles to Roman, complete with his name etched on the chest – bedazzled. The petite girl also convinced the younger one to gift Mercury frilly pants with an embezzled word of "Sparkly" on the pants' behind.

Neo explained to Luna that these were something the two boys had always wanted and would be happy to wear. Upon receiving their gifts, the two didn't even bat an eye, immediately putting the articles of clothing on to show their appreciation and began bickering over whose was better.) It was not uncommon for the two to be engaged in some sort of verbal disagreement or to sneer and mock the other while Luna tried to calm the two.

As predicted, Mercury scowled at the display of affection and smacked Roman's hand away.

A gesture that made Roman frown of course, but instead of quipping back at Mercury as he usually did to prompt an argument, his headache pleaded him not to and caused him to wave a hand in dismissal. "Shouldn't you be off making breakfast like a good boy?" He asked, sagging down in the seat next to Cinder. "I do believe, it is your turn."

Luna gave a sigh of relief. As much as she loved the two, they could be a bit much when butting heads. She quickly tensed back up though, upon learning it was Mercury's turn to cook.

The members of the household normally had a set schedule for cooking, usually made as a cycle and only switched when someone would be too busy to cook. Of course, they didn't cook every single day; as they would order take out sometimes. Regardless, there was still a cycle of whoever would be cooking.

Scowl still in place, most likely there due to having to actually listen to Roman and do what he said, Mercury took a few long steps over to the fridge and pulled out a number of items, purchased just the night before Luna came to visit. Among the items he pulled out, Luna tried to decipher what he would be cooking;, eggs, bacon, a melon, cantaloupe, and…

"Miiiiiiillllllllkkkkk!" She gasped, whipping her head over to throw a pointed look at her beloved mother.

"You told me there wasn't any!"

Cinder didn't get to say anything as she was interrupted by a loud snort from Roman, and an amused huff from Neo.

"Kiddo, the day we never hold either sweet milk or cake in stock while you're in is the day we hand ourselves over to the devil themselves, literally with all the fire you spew." Roman drawled out, resting his head in one hand.

Luna pouted, "What's that supposed to mean?" She asked as Neo sluggishly made her way over to her and joined Blake plopping herself over Luna's back, snuggling into her fluffy pajamas.

Neo brought her hands around and began signing; starting it off with a pointed finger at Luna's nose to indicate that she would be talking to her. Using the same finger, she curled it, hooking it into Luna's mouth and lightly pulling at it then dropped her hand, wiped it on Luna's shoulder, and loosed hugged her over the shoulders to cuddle.

The sentence wasn't exactly complete, but Luna knew exactly what Neo had told her.

"You're addicted."

"I am not addicted!" She continued to pout, emphasizing her statement with a light bang on the dark marble counter.

Another snort from Roman, "Yes you are." He stated, poking Luna's nose to emphasize his affirmation.

Cinder lazily looked up, noticing how much closer and open Roman and Neo have been, a stark contrast to the previous 2 months.

Roman and Neo had been more closed off, acting rather exclusive to each other and never willing to talk to another person any longer than necessary. And when they did, it typically came with a form of abuse or violence. They almost never rarely came home, granted it was mostly due to not wanting to incur Cinder's wrath and ire, but it was also because neither one of them wanted to be around… well, anyone.

It was eerily similar to how the two first acted around Cinder when they first met.

Though, it only made sense as Roman and Neo only had each other to rely on for so long.

"Listen, you don't understand." Luna said, still trying to explain that she was in fact not addicted to cake or sweet milk as Neo was nearly asleep the young teen's back being nudged by Blake. "Cake and sweet milk, they're not like coffee and cigarettes! You can't get addicted to them."

"Doesn't have to be a drug or caffeine for you to be addicted Kiddo." Roman smirked, "I mean, there are plenty of people addicted to games and phones."

"But that's different!" Luna retorted with a small pout, a sign that she was conceding to his point but still stubborn to refuse to change her view.

"Nope." Roman said with a pop, "You know Kiddo, denial is always the first step in addiction."

Luna frowned at that and crossed her arms in front of her defensively, "Well! If I'm addicted then fine! I'm not going to stop anyway cause milk is good for you." She declared, causing everyone to laugh or chuckle.

At that moment, Emerald came downstairs, fresh out of the shower and changed into her clothing for the day. She saw Neo and Blake cuddling into Luna's back and frowned in envy. As Emerald was not that great at displaying her emotions, there were times when she found she wished she could show them as easily as Neo, but unfortunately there wasn't anything she could do about it.

Mercury, nearly finished with cooking, saw the look Emerald had casted toward the cuddle crew and smirked. "Aw, Emerald. Are you jealous that you're not in on the cuddling session?"

His question caused her to scowl at being caught, but she was hardly going to admit it. Instead, she huffed in annoyance, "Hardly. I'd rather her leech off of them instead of me."

Mercury mockingly cooed at Emerald, "You wish you were cuddled don't you?"

"I just said-" Emerald began, but was interrupted by him once more.

"Luna, you really should let Emerald cuddle with you some time! She's over here sulking because you won't let her." He stated

"Aw!" Luna drawled happily, "Really Emmy? You want to cuddle?" She asked expectantly.

Emerald snarled, "I never said I wanted to cuddle!"

"That's not a confirmation nor is it a denial." Mercury pointed out, causing the other red-eyed girl to growl in frustration.

"It's okay Emmy, we can cuddle later!" Luna happily stated

"Nooo!!" Blake moaned snuggling further into Luna "I only let Neo share my spot cause she's your sister, no one else"

Another growl of frustration, but this time pink rose to Emerald's cheek as she began to speak, "I never said-"

"Shut up" Roman and Cinder growled as they and Neo shot glares at the four (or three in Neo's case) of them while clutching their heads.

Their anger and glares effectively silenced Mercury and Emerald, though only caused Luna and Blake to merely roll their eyes in amusement.

Growing up with coffee addicts, They had gotten use to their grumpiness in the morning so their glares never had an effect on them. Still, Luna went over to the coffee machine with Neo and Blake still attached to her back, grabbed their own personal mugs that she had stolen herself – Cinder's was a basic red cup with yellow lettering that said World's #1 Mom, Roman's was orange with white lettering that said "Please wait…" and had a loading bar under it before continuing into "Sarcasm still loading", and Neo had a mug with a picture of a sleeping cat with the handle as a cat's tail - and began making their coffee just the way each individual liked it while Mercury finished the rest of the food and Emerald grabbed utensils.

Within just a few minutes, Luna placed 3 cups of hot coffee on the side of the open bar and lowered Neo into the last available seat will still carrying the comfy Blake. Immediately, the three grumpy young adults greedily began drinking their coffee in unison and placed them back onto the counter with a sigh of relief as their headaches left.

"Thank you Luna." Cinder happily sighed, taking another sip of coffee.

Luna merely smiled as she went back to her place on the other side of the bar, placing her elbows on the marble surface and holding her head between her hands with a happy smile. "No problem. Feeling better?" She asked as Emerald placed utensils in front of each household member and at the two empty spots across Roman and Neo.

"Much." Cinder smiled

"Alright, breakfast is served!" Mercury declared as he began serving food to everyone and placing side dishes and extra servings in the center of the bar.

Luna, Roman, and Neo, the three - all sharing sweet tooth's, had the same dishes of course, a pile of chocolate crepes with crème. Cinder, Mercury, Blake, and Emerald on the other hand, did not share the constant cravings for sugary confections, so all had omelets, toast, bacon strips, and a cup of fruit.

Blake, of course, sat next to Luna to eat (after being put down dispit her protest) while Mercury was on the inside of the bar. As everyone else began digging in, Luna looked over at Blake's food and quickly snatched her cup of fruit away.

"Hey! I was going to eat that!" Blake protested

Luna stuck her tongue out, "Well now I'm going to eat it!"

Blake glared before smirking as she reached over to Luna's plate and took one of her crepes away, prompting the teen to cry in protest.

"NOOO! MY DELICIOUS CREPE!"

Blake mocked her by sticking her tongue out like Luna had done before, "That's what you get for taking my fruit!"

"You will pay! Pay for this I tell you! VENGEANCE SHALL BE MINE!" Luna declared with a shake of her lightning fist. Right after her proclamation, Blake had already cut a piece of Luna's crepe with her utensils and stuffed it into her mouth.

"Just eat your food ya big goof!" Blake stated with a roll of her eyes, causing Luna to melt at the taste of chocolate and crème exploding across her taste buds.

"Thish ish sho gurd." Luna gushed happily, mouth still full as she began gobbling up more pieces.

"Well I am the best at making crepes." Mercury smugly retorted as he took a bite from his crispy bacon.

"I beg to differ." Roman scoffed, "These are hardly sweet enough."

"Better than yours that is overfilled with sugar. You stuff your crepes with cream and strawberries, that's hardly going to be healthy for breakfast." Mercury quipped

Before the infamous crepe argument could begin again Luna's shadow began to shake as a familiar looking butler rose from it

"Please don't start this again, I just finished cleaning the house from the last time" requested Jack giving a menacing glare to the two boys

Thankfully the argument wouldn't be able to start as upon noticing the time on his fancy white gold wrist watch with black leather straps. Roman let out a frustrated sigh at not being able to get second helpings for breakfast as he turned toward Neo, "We have to go."

Luna frowned, "What? Already?" She whined, she had been looking forward to spending more time with the whole group.

Roman and Neo gave sympathetic smiles, "Sorry Kiddo." Roman apologized, "But we got to get started on Cinder's next phase to stay on time."

"Oh," Luna perked up at that, her demeanor visibly brightening as she turned her attention toward her mother, leaning forward a little and over the counter. "I forgot that the date was coming closer." She confessed sheepishly, causing everyone else to pause and looked surprise that she might possibly know what Cinder's plans were.

Though they all quickly dismissed it as Luna's perk of being Cinder's daughter. The mother had always confided in her daughter rather easily, and despite Luna's bubbly personality, she was extremely trustworthy and the least likely to admit any secrets. And when she came across a situation where she had to explain something not meant to be mentioned, she did well on provide a white lie or non-answer.

Cinder smiled, "It's alright, you've been working very hard. It's no wonder it would slip your mind."

Luna gave a bashful grin, "What part of the plan are we on now?"

"I believe we're beginning work on Phase 2." Awnsered Blake

"Oooh." Luna nodded in recognition before her brain finally registered what that ment "OHMYGOSH!!!, does that mean what I think it means?!"

"Yes sweetie it does but calm down I think the sugars getting to you"

"Whatareyoutalkingaboutimfine" said Luna speaking to fast for anyone to understand will lightning crackled around her

"Ummm Cinder can I talk to you in private before I leave" said Roman looking a little irritated

"Okay Roman" said Cinder getting up and following Roman with Mercury in tow

Luna grinned and with natural lightning speed she shoved the rest of her food on her plate into her mouth, finished half of her glass of milk, took the extra plate of crepes and shoveled them into her mouth, and drank the rest of her milk, prompting a look of disgust from Emerald at having to witness Luna practically swallow food hole. Then, she jumped back and away from the bar in excitement, jauntily saluted that elicited a light chuckle from her girlfriend and an amused grin from Neo.

Roman had a scowl of disapproval as they began there conversation.

"She knows?" He hissed, "Cinder, I understand that she's your daughter and you tell her everything, but that should not mean that we are left in the dark about your plan. We have no idea what we stole the dust for, why we needed to build an organization, or any other reason for anything we've done! All we know is that whatever you're planning is big, but we don't even know if we're doing anything correctly without your approval! We can't have you looking over our shoulder all the time only to yell at us for doing something wrong, when we don't even know why it's wrong.

And now, Luna's in school and we're not entirely sure why and we have no idea how to… work around Luna." It was a round about way of saying that they didn't know if Luna needed protection or not.

"Yeah Cinder," Mercury agreed, rubbing his neck nervously for speaking against his boss. "I mean, Emerald and I know that Luna is helping us gather information from the school for us, but we don't know what its for or even if its…" He trailed off, as everyone understood what he meant.

They didn't know if her being in school was worth it if it meant her being gone from the house.

"You need to tell us the plan," Roman insisted.


	21. Chapter21

With the visiting weekend at an end all the students returned to Beacon happy to tell there friends about what they did.

Luna however could been seen walking around the halls humming a listless tune as she sauntered down the hallway, hands lazily swinging by her sides and eyes scanning between passing and idle students without a care in the world. Occasionally, a random student would greet her and she would happily wiggle her fingers in greeting.

If she knew someone well enough, she would stop for a short chat before asking them, "Have you seen team CRDL today? I need to talk to them." And then following the direction she was pointed to shortly after departing.

Upon finding CRDL chatting with each other though, she grinned and hastened her pace, not bothering to hide her presence making the temperature rise slightly. The moment one of the boys saw her though, he quickly informed the other three, causing all 4 of them to glance over and immediately pretend they didn't see anything as they all turned and tried to scurry away.

They only needed to be threatened a few times to start trying their hardest to avoid her.

"Hey Cardin!" Luna cheerfully stated with a wide and bright smile on her face. "I hope you and your team had a nice weekend!"

To the boys, it might as well have been a smile from a demon itself as they all paled and tried to quicken their pace. To no avail though, as she managed to easily catch up and grab a hold of their leader's shoulder.

"I need your help with something." She said with a smile that made no room for defiance.

Cardin gave a small, wary smile as he tensely nodded. "Yeah. Sure. Anything." So long as he never has to be electricuted again, and be threatened and told how his life will be ended ever again.

"Great!" Luna beamed, "Let's go to the library then." She stated, letting go of his shoulder and walking ahead.

Cardin and his team warily glanced at each other, hoping that the sight of one another would help collect their bearings before timidly following after, making sure they were a few steps behind. They didn't bother voicing out their questions though, out of fear of the possibility of irritating Luna.

They had only ever seen her angry once before of course, as she typically had a mischievous and predator like smile on her face instead, but the idea of seeing it sent chills down their spines.

"I just need help to gather some books." Luna said, glancing back as she walked a little slower until she was in step with Cardin. The unexpected action made his eyebrows rise in surprise, though Luna didn't seem to notice as she continued on. "It'll be too much for me to search for by myself, so I thought you guys would be happy to be productive with your free time and help. You're welcome." She smiled

Cardin nearly groaned at her statement, as it could not be any further from his feelings, but he swallowed it down and forced another smile. "Thanks…" He choked out.

One corner of Luna's mouth stretched up, causing her grin to turn into a smirk of amusement. She didn't say anything though, as she continued to lead the 4 over to the library. Once they arrived, she hurried over to the librarian, Sergeant, with a huge smile.

"Luna! My favorite student!" Sergeant grinned in a soft voice, "How was your weekend?"

Team CRDL's eyes bulged at the happy expression on the librarian, who was known to have a grouch and rigid demeanor, ready to hold a finger to their lips to hush any loud students, and would only grunt when spoken to as they checked books out. To see them happily and willingly talking to a student, it was as though they had stepped into another dimension.

Luna's body seemingly relaxed as her eyes brightened and gleamed in happiness. "It was fantastic! How about yours?"

Sergeant chuckled, "Take a guess."

A knowing smirk made itself known on Luna's face, "Spent building your aeroships?"

Cardin's eyebrows shot up in surprise, he didn't know their librarian built planes.

Sergeant nodded happily, "But of course."

"Were you able to finish that last one we talked about?" Luna inquired curiously.

A light chuckle and shake of a head, "No, I'm still working on it, but you can expect it to be finished within two weeks time!"

"That's great!" Luna exclaimed, lightly bouncing on the balls of her feet and giving light, soft claps of excitement. "You have got to let me watch you fly it!"

A soft smile spread itself on Sergeant's face, "I wouldn't have it any other way. Now tell me my dear, what are you searching for today?"

Luna quickly explained that she was looking for books on the history of the school and town along with maps of sites and certain locations. She also wanted a few academic texts on weapons, forging, and dust.

"And if you can, could you please group the ones closest to each other on four separate pieces of paper?" she asked, holding up the same number of fingers for emphasis.

"Still a busy student I see," Sergeant chuckled, following exactly what she asked. "Just make sure none of your wild pranks pull me in like you did to Glynda and Doctor Oobleck." They warned, handing the papers over to Luna.

Luna merely grinned, "I'll try to keep the pranks on you on the more calm side." She said, taking the offered note.

Sergeant nodded in approval, "Good, now off with you." They said, making a shooing motion with their hand.

Luna playfully rolled her eyes before wandering back to CRDL. "Alright! Take your pick!" She smiled, fanning the papers out with the blank sides facing the boys.

Everyone glanced to each other in question, obviously expecting that Luna wasn't actually going to have them help her with getting books, but evidentially, her intentions were really what it seemed.

Luna stared at them expectantly, a wide grin still on her face. Finally, Dove sighed as he reached out for a note.

"So Dove is stuck with history books! Have fun with that." Luna stated before turning her gazes to the other three. She lightly shook her hand that held the remaining notes, indicating that they hurry to take them.

Hesitantly, they all grabbed the remaining slips of paper, Cardin and Sky each in charge of grabbing the academic texts and Russel having to grab books with maps and locations.

Luna nodded in approval, "Alright team CRDL!" She began, placing her hands on her hips in a typical authority-like pose, "Meet back here when you've all got the books." She ordered with a pseudo-serious face.

CRDL merely shuffled in their places awkwardly, hesitantly nodding as though they still could not believe that the little girl in front of them was capable of threatening their lives and had been the one to during the previous past few weeks.

"Right! Spread out!" She ordered with a wave of her hand. The boys immediately brought their slips of paper up to take another look at the section they should be heading towards before walking off.

Cardin didn't get too far though, as he sensed another presence beside him, causing him to turn his head in question. He regretted though, when the sight of Luna greeted his eyes.

The young faunes seemed to notice his apprehension and grinned. "Don't mind me, I'll just be tagging along."

The comment confused Cardin, as Luna usually didn't speak to him or his team unless it was to order them to do something.

Now that he thought about it though, her behavior had been out of place ever since she came up to them.

First of all, she usually didn't walk up to them in plain view, as she seemed to prefer seemingly popping out of nowhere to scare them.

Second, she explained to them what she needed as opposed to demanding them to do so. Finally, there was the fact that she seemed to prefer tagging or walking alongside with them… Usually she would have them walk behind her, flanking her sides, but this time… she almost seemed like… she wanted their company. It was odd, and Cardin couldn't help but find himself a little miffed at this slight change.

Luna didn't seem to notice or care about his befuddlement, or if she did, chose not to say anything as she perused through the tall bookshelves.

The two began searching for the books, and Cardin hated to say it, but with Luna's help he was able to find all the books much more easily than had he done so by himself. Though… If it weren't for Luna, he wouldn't be caught in the library at all.

Half an hour had barely passed by the time they finished and began heading toward the checkout with 9 books in Cardin's hands, the rest of the members were already there with the rest of Luna's books.

Pleased, Luna gestured from them all to set the books on the counter to allow Sergeant to scan them…

She seemed content to stay silent as the boys did all the grunt work for her, until she heard the sounds of someone whining. Turning her head to the entry, she saw Velvet staggering in with a tower of books in her possession that hindered her sight.

"No….no…. Nononono!" She whimpered loudly, quickly backtracking as the books began leaning back, threatening to fall, though thankfully stopped as balance was regained.

Raising a brow and feeling a little sorry for her, Luna turned to face Cardin. "You should help her out." She stated

The order made Cardin splutter, "Wh-What? Are you crazy? I've been messing with her for the first few weeks of school! She's not going to want help from me."

"Well then, all the more reason for you to help her." Luna shrugged.

Cardin blanched, ready to protest further until he saw crimson eyes narrow down on him. Cold fear shivered through his body, causing him to lower his head in compliance before stalking away as he muttered under his breath, not at all happy with the order. He made sure to walk directly in front of Velvet, ensuring that he stay well out of her sight, before grabbing more than half the books right out her hands.

"Oh! Thank-" Velvet began in pleasant surprise, turning her head up to Cardin though froze dead in her tracks as her voice hitched. "YoU?" She finished with a whimper, her ears falling down and flattening against her head.

Cardin rolled his eyes, knowing this would have happened. "Yeah. Whatever." He muttered. "So are you turning this in or what?" He demanded

Timidly, Velvet nodded, glancing back and forth between the turn in box and Cardin, as though wondering if she could jump into it as well for safety.

Cardin merely grunted as he made his way over, gently placing the stack of books on the ground for Velvet's convenience.

Still perturbed by his gesture, Velvet ensured that she kept a safe distance from him as she did the same. Not wanting to sound rude or ungrateful though, she timidly spoke, "U-Uh… Thanks… Cardin."

Surprised at the light warmth spreading in his chest at the gratitude and guilt of looking at her, Cardin casted his eyes away. "Yeah, well. Don't mention it… Ever." He roughly said before making his way back to Luna.

"Aw, wasn't that nice Cardin?" Luna mockingly asked with a sickeningly sweet smile. "You're making a friend." She cooed, even going so far as reaching to pinch his cheek

"Shut up." He grumbled in embarrassment, slapping her hand away.

Luna casted her eyes over to her fellow Faunus, catching Velvet's eye and gave a knowing wink over to her and causing Velvet to smile, mouthing the words "Thank you" over to Luna.

Luna quickly waved the other off as she finished checking out her books while saying goodbye to Sergeant.

Taking a glance over to the clock behind the librarian, Luna let out a weary sigh and turned to team CRDL.

"Listen, hold these into your room for now. I'll grab the rest later." She stated, only taking 3 books. She turned back to Cardin, holding a pointed finger at him. "And you, I want you to grab one of the school maps and remember it."

"Why?" Cardin asked, crossing his eyes to stare at the finger.

"Just do it." Luna stated with a huff, spinning on her heel before hurriedly walking out.

She didn't even bother receiving an answer from CRDL as she left.

Luna headed toward the cafeteria hungry for a nice big burger, she reached the cue and made her order, seeing her team along with team JNPR sitting at there shared table.

"Hey guys what's up" she asked sitting beside Blake

"Oh nothing much just talking about what we did over the weekend" responded Ruby

"So did you do anything exciting over the weekend?" Pyrrha asked Luna once she had finished eating what was in her mouth.

"Oh. I-" Luna paused, giving Blake a side hug grinning away. "I spent it with my g-friend and family." Luna confessed, looking back at Pyrrha. "Since we haven't seen each other in a while, we kind of just… hung out."

"That sounds wonderful," Pyrrha smiled. "You must have missed them dearly."

Luna nodded, her posture relaxing as she thought about her sister and everyone else. "Yeah. I was really happy to see everyone again."

The group continued to chat until a shout from outside the cafeteria interrupted and caught there attention.

"Doctor Ooblek! Please, keep those chickens under control!" The voice of Professor Goodwitch announced

"You may think that a task such as this is simple as saying so, but I assure you Glynda that it is not!"

Doctor Oobleck affirmed, his voice occasionally rising to be heard over loud clucking sounds.

"I don't care if it's difficult," Glynda gritted out. "Just make sure you don't let go of them! I do not wish to spend my day running around campus, searching for them again! Now help me find number 4! It's got to be around here somewhere!"

"Actually! The gender of the chicken would be that of a female if we're going with human social normalization." Doctor Oobleck informed, shuffling the 2 chickens under his arms that had an apparent numbers 1 and 2 hanging off their sides. "Seeing as these chickens don't-"

"Doctor Oobleck!" Glynda shouted, pointing toward a white bird attempting to flutter up into the air toward him with the number 4 strapped to its' side. "The chicken!"

"U-Uh! Right-o!" The history professor stammered out as he tried his best to chase after it.

Every member in the JNPR dorm room stared out into the window in disbelief, save for Luna who was snickering to herself at the display.

"... Luna… What did you do?" Weiss asked, her eyes still fixed on the two professors that she respected, who were now running around in circles to chase a chicken. She knew fully well, along with just about every other student at school, that Luna was the only person who would pull a prank that involved teachers.

"I brought chickens to school!" Luna said with a large, proud smile. Even going so far as raising her chin and nose into the air to exaggerate her expression.

"I can see that, but what-"

Weiss stopped what she was saying, as she narrowed her eyes at a once again snickering Luna. The type of snickering where she wanted to say something, but wouldn't until incited to do so. The kind of snickering where Luna was pretty sure she had a joke, but knew that Weiss would not find humor in. It was the kind of snickering that Yang enjoyed though, because she knew that she would enjoy whatever it was that Luna had to say.

"What is it?" Yang asked with a wide smile.

Luna tried to bring her snickering under control, but only managed to speak out her mind in between bouts. "I… I brought cocks to school."

Weiss groaned at the comment as Yang snorted in amusement before allowing guffaws of laughter to consume the air, along with Nora, Jaune and Ruby. Throwing a glance over to Blake, Ren, and Pyrrha Weiss's only hopes for maturity, she had hoped for someone to help back her in admonishing Luna, but was remiss to find the three caught in small bouts of chortle. Blake and Ren both seemed to be hiding their amusement behind their hands, but Weiss was especially shocked to find Pyrrha laughing at such an immature comment. Though, the latter seemed try to cover up her merriment with a polite cough.

Regardless, Weiss allowed a small groan to escape as she rolled her eyes toward the ceiling.

She was surrounded by children.

"Awww, C'mon Weiss! It was funny!" Ruby whined, settling back down in her seat along with Pyrrha.

"Hardly." Weiss deadpanned

"So why the cocks?" Yang asked, allowing snickers to take over as she said the word.

"It's not about the cocks." Luna said.

"Then what's with the cocks?" Nora asked

"Can you stop calling the chickens that!" Weiss demanded

"Well, the point of the cocks is to make the teachers run around." Luna said, ignoring Weiss's request.

Everyone stared at her with a raised brow, knowing that there was more to the prank then just that.

"... There's also only 3 cocks on campus." Luna finished with a whisper before giggles overtook her.

Everyone knitted their brows in question, not sure what Luna was speaking of until they heard a yell of triumph from outside, garnering their attention.

"Alright, we finally-" Glynda heaved a sigh, swiping loose strands of her hair that came undone from her bun to the side. "Have 3 of them. Now to just find the last one."

"I'll say! This took much longer than I thought!" Ooblek commented, struggling to keep all of the chickens under his arm under control. "Maybe we ought to keep these fellas somewhere safe before we search for number 3 hm?"

Glynda nodded in approval before turning away, "I swear, the next time Miss Fall pulls something like this again, you can be certain that she'll be the one to clean up her own mess!"

"Now now Glynda," Ooblek placated as he followed after, "While this activity did indeed take up most of the day, you must admit that it was interesting. Besides, it's not as though you don't enjoy it. Otherwise Miss Fall wouldn't continue to pull pranks on you."

Glynda allowed a sigh to escape, "Of course."

As the two teachers stalked away, the table erupted into more laughter as Weiss stared at Luna in disbelief. "You're sending our teachers on a ghost hunt."

"Just those two, they're the only ones who were free." Luna stated, fluttering her eyes with a look of angelic innocence.

"I… You know what? I'm not even going to try." Weiss stated, shaking her head as she went back to the material in front of her.

It was a sign for everyone else to settle back down and to return to their study session as well, but this time, with a bit more of amusement in the air.

At some point, Luna felt Pyrrha's gaze on her.

Pyrrha merely smiled in response, shaking her head to indicate that she didn't wish to talk at the moment. Most likely to avoid disrupting the quiet focus that had finally settled in the room.

Not wanting to drop it, Luna quickly scribbled on a spare piece of paper and passed it over to the other.

"Do you need help with something?"

Pyrrha's smile brightened in glee upon reading the note, and wrote something back in her much more neat and legible cursive writing.

"Actually, I wished to inquire if you are willing to spar with me some time? I haven't fought you yet and I think you could give me a real challenge".

Luna bit her lip in contemplation, hesitantly casting a quick glance up to Pyrrha who returned the look with a small smile.

Unsure and wary of the request, Luna wondered if there were any benefits for her or the mission for accepting it.

Pyrrha was one of the most respected students and fighter on campus, and after the match a few weeks ago Luna had been eager to fight her.

Luna chewed the inside of her cheek, before writing down her response.

"Alright"

Pyrrha's smile seemed to widen at the acceptance as she mouthed the words "Thank you" to Luna, garnering an uncertain smile.

Well, one main reason Luna came to the school was to help improve herself. She might as well take every chance she got she thought with a yawn.

As soon as Lunch was done the group reconvened In team JNPR's room for there study season.

Around the 3 hour mark, where everyone was pretty much finished and it was close to curfew, Luna had completely succumbed herself to the comfort of the table and was snoozing to the amusement of everyone.

"She's actually really of cute like this, no matter how much she disagrees." Blake commented with a grin, lightly poking Luna's cheek.

"I prefer her like this," Weiss scoffed, gathering up Luna's material and neatly placing them in her bag.

"At the very least she's not causing any sort of trouble when asleep." Said Ruby nodding sagely to her partner

"She's not waking up." Blake whispered after lightly shaking her a few times.

"That's okay, I got her." Yang replied, carefully trying to pick Luna up.

"Here, let me help." Ruby suggested.

Yang nodded in gratitude as the two managed to place Luna on Yang's back.

"Thank you for allowing us to study with you." Weiss stated, turning toward the members of team JNPR.

"It was no problem. We benefitted from it as well." Ren stated.

Weiss nodded, shuffling Luna's bag onto her shoulder before walking through the door that Blake held open.

By the time team RSYBL had left for their dorm room, JNPR all began stretching before they began cleaning up and rearranging their room once again.

The sound of a vibration reverberated through the door room, causing confusion amongst the team.

"Whose scroll is that?" Jaune asked

"Not mine!" Nora stated, "Mine's gone!"

Ren sighed at the proclamation. "I have it, and it's not mine either."

"Oh!" Pyrrha sounded, noticing the scroll left on the study table they used, "I do believe that's Luna's scroll"

"Should we give it back to her? They're just across the hallway." Jaune mentioned.

Pyrrha shook her head, picking the phone up as it vibrated again. "No, she's already asleep. I'll give it back to her tomorrow." She said, peeking at the screen and noticing 2 new messages from a "Sparkle Butt", causing an amused brow to raise at the name.

Cinder stood silently at the door to her daughters bedroom door, allowing only the light from the hallway to shine in the room. Standing there for a few minutes, she finally took a slow, silent step into the room and took it in.

It was so like her daughter.

Small, airy, and when the sun came up - so filled with light. Even when the sun moved across the sky and was about to set, or even when the moon was high in the sky, the room would still be filled with light due to the fixed, large skylights.

Even the walls, painted a burgundy were accented with a single, muted yellow stripe a quarter down from the top, gave a clue to Luna's personality posters of dragons and martial artists neatly lined around. Her single, short yet wide bookcase she built herself was set to fit under the bay window to form a semi couch with black covered cushions, orange and yellow pillows littering the area along with a large stuffed animal that Neo gave her. Books ranging from all sorts of fiction to academia filled the case, leaving no room to be free space.

Cinder laughed to herself, if Luna were home then most of those books would be littering around her room and there would be plenty of space on the bookshelves.

She continued looking around the room, noting the cleanliness of the walnut desk and bulletin board hanging above, free of scattered papers that would usually be filled with missions and operations for mundane items or pranks. A few pictures were still pinned at the side of the board of herself with other household members. Usually with silly facial expressions or poses.

Cinder's feet continued walking, shifting from the cold hardwood floor to the comfort of a large, circular eggshell white rug in the middle of the room, accented with a light, military green and brown to frame it. The only object placed on the rug was the foot of Luna's full sized bed, held up with a plain, dark wooden frame of a sleigh bed with just a headboard set in the center of the wall. A dark, wooden dresser with picture frames and knickknacks set neatly across the top against the other wall.

Cinder slowly lowered herself to sit at the foot of the bed, placing her weight atop the pink and white patterned throw blanket that was neatly folded over the plain brown comforter. Continuing to lower herself, Cinder laid herself across the bed until her head rested on white pillows, sinking further against larger, slated gray pillows.

The mother couldn't help but chuckle to herself, Luna's bed was so much smaller than her own.

… The room was so much colder without Luna.

"Wow, it's so much cleaner without the kiddo in here." Roman's voice cut through the quiet air.

"No kidding." Mercury followed wil a slight snort, "It's usually a lot more cluttered."

"Have you told Luna the news yet" Cinder asked looking at Mercury

"Yup, right after we finished checking on the dust, that guy who was tailing her said he was hired by a Yang Xaio Long but then he said his alligance had changed, wouldn't say who though." Mercury nodded.

Cinder nodded, eyeing the pictures on the dresser before settling on a specific one. "She'll be happy, that man had been annoying her for a while." She noted, picking up the frame slightly annoyed she couldn't find out who was watching her daughter.

Roman laughed, "Oh yeah, she'll probably be bouncing in joy, not only is her stalker taken care of, Shes been waitin for this day for ages."

Mercury nodded in agreement, checking his phone real quick and noting the time. "She hasn't replied yet, so she's probably asleep."

Cinder smiled, pleased at the idea that her daughter would be happy as she placed down the frame containing a picture of the two smiling widely as they hugged one another. "Good. Now we just have to wait for Emerald and Neo to come back with the supplies."


	22. Chapter22

Luna grinned, humming a tune familiar to the rest of her team from Weiss's countless singing sessions in the shower as she walked toward their table, her girlfriend walking closely beside her while Weiss, Ruby and Yang trailed a little slower.

Yang, due to her unnatural focus and paranoia on her phone, Ruby holding her head down unhappy with her test results and Weiss was trying to cheer up her partner.

Blake casted a concerned look toward the three of them, though only Ruby managed to catch sight of it and merely waved her off, mouthing "later" toward her. It seemed enough for Blake as she turned her attention back to her happy girlfriend.

"I take that your test went well." Blake commented.

"It went great!" Luna exclaimed happily, plopping herself down in her seat. "I was able to do just about every problem!" She proclaimed, poking the straw through her carton of milk.

Weiss looked pleased as the rest of the team settled alongside the table, "Well, I'm glad to hear that. If you feel like you need any more help in regards to math, then your more than happy to join me and Ruby."

"Another studying session sounds pleasant." Pyrrha voiced as her own team came up with food trays in hand. "Would you mind if we join you?"

Weiss gestured in front of her to the free seats, giving the other team permission to take the space. "And how do you four believe you did on the test?" she politely asked

Pyrrha smiled to show her positivity on her test, but didn't get a chance to properly express it as she was interrupted by Nora.

"It was horrible!" Nora wailed, "All the numbers didn't add up! On one of the problems I was certain that the answer was supposed to be positive, but I somehow got into the negatives. There were so many formulas that I just don't remember and the graphs were all looking a little wonky and I just wanted all the numbers to disappear!" Nora cried as her head fell to the table.

"I know math is just the worst, it's just so complicated" Ruby agreed just as frustrated with the test as Nora

Ren halted her head with his hand before lowering it down as he continued. "Nora will be taking extra time to study with me."

Jaune snickered at them before he began, "I mean, it was alright."

Luna stared at Pyrrha, who was still silent as she allowed her teammates to talk over her. It wasn't until the rest of Luna's team noticed her gaze and stared at Pyrrha as well, awaiting for her to finish speaking.

"Oh, I… I believe I did very well on the test." Pyrrha exclaimed, casting a meaningful glance over to Luna.

Luna merely flashed a quick, nervous grin before ducking her head to eat - silently reprimanding herself for allowing her habit of listening to everyone take a hold of her.

"Blake!"

Ruby turned her head up in question at the unfamiliar voice, seeing two boys she didn't recognize with an arched brow.

"Sun." Blake said with a hint of surprise

"Great the money grabbers here" said Luna under her breath so no one could hear.

"Hey!" Sun, the monkey faunes drawled out with a grin as he gave a nod over to Weiss and Yang. The latter of whom only gave a small wave toward him without taking her eyes off her scroll. "Hey, I just wanted to come by and introduce my best friend, Neptune to you guys. He didn't believe me when I said I met some cool people here."

Neptune, the tan boy with neatly combed blue hair straightened his back as he swept his gaze across the table at everyone sitting there, and flashed his teeth while giving a small nod. "I'm Neptune"

Weiss smiled, leaning forward on the table with folded hands. "So Neptune, where are you from?"

"Haven" Neptune answered with a small smirk, he opened his mouth to continue to speak, but was interrupted from Luna's snort.

"And obviously from Daddy's list of approved suitors." Luna commented.

Weiss immediately recoiled away, her arms folded across her chest as she flushed in anger. "That's not true!"

Luna gave Neptune a quick once over before casting a knowing look at Weiss, "Right." She drawled out before returning to her food.

"I-" Weiss tried, before glancing over at Neptune, visibly deflating as she realized that Luna was right. Neptune does look like he came straight off of her father's approval list.

"Don't worry… Weiss was it?" Neptune asked, causing Weiss to nod. "Don't get so down, I'm everyone's type." He claimed, throwing a wink over toward the other side of the table.

Pyrrha was the only one to notice, causing her to flash a very tense smile to showcase her discomfort and causing Weiss to frown in disapproval at Neptune's apparent flirtatious nature.

"Don't pay attention to him," Sun said with an affectionate eye roll, throwing his hand up to semi cover Neptune from the view of everyone. "He's stupid."

"For once I agree with you Sun" said Luna nodding in agreement

Jaune didn't notice as he leaned across the table, "D-Don't worry Weiss. I'm sure I'm not your father's type!"

"You're not my type either." Weiss stated off handedly with an arched brow, causing Ruby and Nora to snicker while Jaune deflated.

"Don't worry Jaune, your time for romance will come soon enough." Ren comforted him with a pat on his back.

"Indeed," Pyrrha joined in with a small sympathetic smile "It just so happens that it's not… today." she lamely finished.

Ruby decided to help comfort Jaune, not wanting him to be depressed as a result of the rejection. "Yeah! Besides, Weiss is already taken. By me. Because she's my partner. So you can't have her. Mine." She affirmed, stepping up onto the table as she jabbed a thumb to her chest, raising her nose up into the air to emphasize her statement.

Weiss blanched at the remark, pulling Ruby down to take a seat with an eyeroll. "Please refrain from putting your foot on the table and stop being ridiculous." She stated with a small, amused smile.

Blake chuckled at the display. Though noticed that Yang was still sitting silently beside her. Blake nudged her at the arm to draw her attention, though only managed to cause her to snap her head up and look at Blake in bewilderment. "Hey… are you okay?" Blake asked quietly. "You've been stuck on your scroll this entire time."

Weiss glanced over, casting a concerned expression toward Yang briefly before her attention was brought back to some sort of shenanigan Ruby was trying to pull.

"Yeah you've been seeming real out of it since this morning" said Luna joining her girlfriends concern

"I-" Yang threw a quick glance over to the rest of the table as she shook her head, pocketing her scroll as she brought her hand up to cover the portion below her left shoulder, where Blake knew she kept that tattered old picture. "I'll tell you guys later." Yang whispered, ducking her head as she began to eat her lunch.

Though she was still concerned, Blake understood that now was not the best time or place for Yang to share whatever seemed to be plaguing her mind, and decided to simply wait until she was ready.

"Alright, well Neptune and I are going to go get some food. We'll catch up with you all later" Sun stated as he and his friend left.

Ren shook his head as he lightly shook Nora's shoulder, "Nora needs to study." He stated, getting up and pulling Nora along as she wailed

Pyrrha declined as well, "Luna and I have a sparring session to attend to. That is, if she is still up for it?" she asked, casting a quizzical glance over to Luna.

Luna choked on her food upon being reminded of her plans to spar with Pyrrha, and began coughing wildly as Blake began rhythmically pounding on her back and handing over her girlfriend carton of milk.

She quickly snatched it, slurping the rest of the liquid down her throat as her body finally decided to calm down.

"Are you okay?" Pyrrha asked in concern as Blake continued lightly patting Luna's back

Luna waved her off, "Yeah. I'm fine. Food went down the wrong way." She hoarsely exclaimed, turning her head over to Blake to show that she was fine and to indicate that Blake could stop her patting.

"If you're sure…" Pyrrha said.

"I'm sure." Luna nodded, taking Blake's juice carton to down as well to the other's protest

"So about that sparring session…" Pyrrha continue with a silent question.

Luna gave a smile, still uncertain about helping the other in something that would improve her fighting capabilities.

Unfortunately, Luna knew that rejecting something she had already accepted would look a bit suspicious, and it would not taken lightly in front of both teams.

She'll simply have to make the most of the sparring session. "Sure!" She said with forced enthusiasm, "It'll be fun!"

Pyrrha smiled in delight, nodding in appraisal.

"I-I can help!" Jaune chimed in.

While Luna would have welcomed company to help alleviate whatever awkward atmosphere might be developed from her end with Pyrrha, she was not willing to welcome Jaune due to how unbelievably weak he is. Especially when Luna was gonna be fighting a renowned fighter so she knew Jaune would be completely outclassed .

Before she could attempt to portray a polite refusal, Pyrrha turned to him with an apologetic smile, "My apologies Jaune, but the point of this spar that I wish to partake in with Luna, is to help me overcome my weaknesses in regards to strategies that Luna seems to excel at."

Confused, Jaune tilted his head quizzically, "Like what? I think you're already a great fighter."

"Well," Pyrrha paused, hesitantly glancing around at everyone else as she gave a sheepish smile, as though embarrassed at what she has to say. "Hand-to-hand combat for one. I never realized it, but I rely much too heavily on being armed with my weapons."

Jaune frowned, "But, I saw the fights you had in combat class. I think you're great at hand to hand."

Weiss rolled her eyes while Pyrrha simply gave a nervous smile.

"I suppose, but in the event I come across another fighter like Luna, who seems to have boundless energy in regards to hand to hand combat, I would like to be more... confident in my abilities." Pyrrha stated.

"If you say so." Jaune offered.

Pyrrha nodded as she got up, looking over to Luna with bright expectancy. "Shall we?"

Luna looked up with wide eyes, and quickly back down to the rest of the food on her tray, including her dessert. "Can I-?"

"Oh! I'm sorry! Please, take your time." Pyrrha smiled as she sat back down and watched Luna expectedly.

Luna glanced at Pyrrha with wariness, feeling the anticipation and excitement to spar together rolling off of Pyrrha in waves, and sighed in resignation. It was unlikely that she would be able to enjoy her food while under that gaze and briefly wondered if this was how Emerald felt with her on occasion.

… If it were, then Luna was obviously going to continue her actions.

She quickly shoveled the rest of her food down, swiping the juice carton that Ren had left and Blake took and slurping it all up to wash down her food. Slamming it down on the table she heaved a sigh of relief,

"Alright, I'm ready."

"Splendid!" Pyrrha enthused, standing up with Luna.

"Is it… wise to eat before a starring session?" Weiss asked

"Nonsense," Pyrrha said as Luna waved Weiss off

"It'll give us energy." The two commented at the same time, causing Pyrrha to beam and Luna to give a grin upon realization of what just happened.

Weiss sighed, "I wish I could join." She wistfully said, though knew after Pyrrha's proclamation that their sparring session would be a private affair.

Luna grinned, "Aw, Weiss. Don't be jealous, you're still my favourite ice queen." She teased, pinching Weiss's cheek and lightly shaking it.

Amused, Weiss slapped the hand away with a small smile. "I'm actually jealous of you. Pyrrha Nikos is a four time consecutive tournament champion, she would certainly provide more class than you in regards to technique. But alas, it seems as though she sees something worthwhile in you that I do not."

Luna exaggeratedly clenched her heart at those words, "Oh how you wound me." She deadpanned, causing Pyrrha to chuckle.

Weiss harrumphed, "Whatever. I highly doubt I'd be much help anyway, all I would do is correct Luna on her posture." She stated with a pointed glare. "How she manages to fight with such loose form is beyond me."

Luna merely stuck her tongue out and walking off, waving to Blake and Yang.

"I'll see you later Jaune!" Pyrrha waved before briefly quickening her pace to catch up to Luna. "So? How do you wish to proceed in our spar? Is there a specific area in which you wish to focus on?" she asked as the two walked out of the cafeteria.

Luna knitted her brows together before shaking her head, "Why don't we just… spar for now?" She asked with a bit of hesitance, "After, we could just… tell each other what we saw went wrong. Or even during.

Then next time, it's what we work on. That's how my family did it for me at least." She said with uncertainty, scratching the back of her head.

She'd never really had to help someone improve their fighting skills before, so she wasn't sure how to do so.

"That sounds excellent." Pyrrha nodded in approval

Luna sighed in relief at having her "lesson plan" accepted, but she still felt as though she had to keep her guard up around Pyrrha. She mentally sighed, turning toward the hallway windows as she knew that it would be a long day for her if she was going to keep like this. Upon looking out, she noticed a small fleet standing by near the landing way and halted, narrowing her eyes in question at the sight.

"What's wrong?" Pyrrha asked, stopping a little too close to Luna for her liking.

"Um… Just wondering what the commotion is all about." Luna stated, taking a subtle step away from Pyrrha.

Pyrrha looked out the window and seemed to have recognized the ships, "Those are from Atlas. They must be here for the Vytal festival." She claimed, allowing her eyes to wander to each ship, though she stopped on one. "Although, I do believe that ship belongs to General Ironwood. I… must say, I'm not certain as to why he would come here himself. Headmasters typically don't travel with their students on their trip to the festival." Pyrrha noted with slight question.

Luna hummed in thought before she continued on. She would have to tell her mom later once she managed to find her scroll.

"So? What has you so worried?" Weiss asked Yang after closing the door to their dorm room after the two along with Ruby and Blake were inside.

Yang sat on her bed uneasily, shifting in discomfort as she twiddled around with her scroll. "It's… my investigator."

"Your what?" Blake asked in confusion.

"Why in the world do you need an investigator for?" Weiss asked

Yang squirmed in her seat, not looking at her teammate in the eyes as she tried to swallow the sudden lump in her throat.

She had never spoken about this out loud to another outside her family before, but knew she had to get it all out lest she wanted a repeat of the incident from a few years back.

Slowly, with shaky hands, she took out the tattered old picture that Blake, Ruby and Weiss saw slip out of her pocket near the beginning of the school year and held it out for them to look at.

The two gave each other questioning glances as they sat on Weiss's bed close to Yang who sat on Blake's bed, and leaned forward to get a better look at the picture.

It was old, wrinkly, they was little girl with long blonde hair, they presumed to be Yang, standing right behind her was a tall women wearing really old looking armor that were nearly faded out, and worn thin. As though those spots had been rubbed or held at continuously and demanded that the viewer pay attention to the women.

The women was beaming happily at the camera, showing off her bright red eyes while hugging Yang's shoulders.

"C-Cute right?" Yang asked with a shaky, choked voice, as a wide, adoring smile expressed itself while her lilac eyes locked onto the picture. "That's my birth mom." She whispered as she allowed her trembling hands to pull the picture back for her to get a better look at it, her thumbs placing themselves over the, worn out spots that they belonged on.

Weiss and Blake's shoulders fell will Ruby went to her sister to try and comfort her, their hearts breaking at seeing their friend/sister silently weep as they kept quiet.

What else could they do but wait?

Yang sat in mournful silence, staring at the picture as a clear wall of tears built in her eyes that were filled with nothing but love.

Everything in the room seemed to stay frozen in place, inanimate objects seemingly coming to life to give their silence for Yang.

Weiss and Blake sat still on Weiss's bed, casting their eyes down to the floor to contribute to the sorrowful gesture as they only heard the sound of the fours breathing all will Ruby gave her sister a side hug resting her head on Yangs shoulder trying her best to comfort her.

Even the wind, usually so playful in its' action to provide a nice breeze through their dorm's open window, refused to enter.

It took several minutes until Yang exhaled out a heavy breath filled with burdened receiving a few back pats from her little sister, and Weiss suddenly thought that her friend looked as though she had aged a few years from how tired she suddenly looked, how hard her eyes suddenly shifted as she glared at empty space.

"She left use." Yang gritted out, her eyes flashing red. "My birth mother left my dad and me shortly after I was born!"

Weiss and Blake both snapped their eyes up, widening them in shock as they subtly leaned away from Yang who continued, her hair slowly rising and her body giving off heat from her semblance as Ruby jumped away to avoid being burned.

"I just, just- I just wanna-" Yang tried to grit out with clenched fists, but as if working like clockwork, she suddenly deflated. Her semblance deactivating with her exhale that sounded as though she was trying to give up.

Weiss got up, hesitantly moving over to sit next to Yang to provide her subtle support.

It seemed that Yang was thankful for the action, as she casted a quick, small smile toward Weiss and Ruby.

Once again, Yang stared down at the floor before she continued on, thinking that if she didn't look at either of her teammates, then maybe it would be easier to speak. "I just wanna know why she left" Yang hesitantly said with a forced, humorous chuckle.

"I was informed she was here. Around Here!" Yang said, picking up her excitement once more. "That's what my investigator said in his last report. He was certain that she was last seen around in the city. But now he's gone, and I don't have any more information on her."

Leaning forward, Weiss gave Yang a slight hug with a small smile. "I'll help you."

"Yeah." Blake agreed as she did the same gesture, "We'll help you find out what happened."

"What are friends and family for" said Ruby fully embracing her sister

Tearing up, Yang couldn't help but allow a few tears to fall as she unfolded her hands hugging her sister.

"Thank you." She whispered with a grateful smile.

Blake, Weiss and Ruby could only smile in silence two of the three ending the hug Ruby still sat there hugging away just like the little sister she was.

Luna took heavy, exaggerated deep breaths as she landed on the cool floor of the sparring room.

"I think… we need to call it a day." She confessed as she felt her aura level at an all time low.

She mentally groaned in embarrassment as she realized just how bad she was at "playing it safe" and how bad she was in fighting someone when she had to hold back. If she were aloud to use more of her powers, if she was certain that she wouldn't blow her cover in the future revealing her more advanced attacks, she was pretty sure that she would be able to beat Pyrrha no problem.

Maybe if they were fighting in a different area where Luna would have more room to launch larger breath attacks, as well as more mobility, such as in the city or forest where she could easily climb around and strike from above, she was absolutely positive that she would be able to win.

Unfortunately, like her mom instructed her to, Luna had no choice but to "play it safe" which, by default,

meant "no big booms".

… Luna hated "playing it safe".

"I'm sorry!" Pyrrha yelled, running up to her and bending over to help her up with sweat rolling down her forehead as well. "Are you alright?"

Luna forced a grin, "Y-Yeah. I'm alright." she confirmed, taking the offered hand that was overly warm like her own from the excursion to help her get back on her feet. "I just didn't expect that."

That being Pyrrha suddenly flung Luna's weapons away aswell as moving her fists by magnetizing her wristbands with her semblance, and then pulling her own disarmed shield back toward herself, and behind Luna's legs to trip her while kicking at her upper body. It caused Luna to suddenly spin backward and thus land how she did.

Pyrrha gave an apologetic smile, "I'm sorry."

"Why are you apologizing?" Luna asked questioningly with a laugh.

"You're… not angry that I used an underhanded tactic?" Pyrrha asked

"No?" Luna asked questioningly. "You won?"

"But I… I used my semblance unfairly." Pyrrha stated.

Luna looked even more puzzled.

"I… never told you what my semblance was, so I caught you completely off guard by activating my polarity to pull my shield from behind you and procuring my victory." Pyrrha clarified

Luna rubbed her neck, picking up her bag so the two could leave for their dormitories. She already knew about Pyrrha's semblance of course, but hadn't thought that Pyrrha would blatantly use it in a mere sparring match so was caught by surprise.

"Anything goes in a fight." Luna said with a small shrug, picking up Pyrrha's bag with her foot and flinging it over. "There aren't any rules that say you can't use your semblance."

Pyrrha caught her bag with a small frown, "But I-"

"There aren't any rules that say you have to tell someone about your semblance either." Luna said, walking toward the exit, causing Pyrrha to quicken her pace to catch up. "It's... a good tactic."

Pyrrha was still frowning as she pulled her bag over her shoulder, contemplating over the matter.

Luna stayed silent, knowing fully well that she wouldn't be able to say anything else that would convince Pyrrha that what she did was okay. Regardless, Luna was certainly not going to deal with this awkward unease that Pyrrha was emitting for the rest of their walk back to their dorm, and forced a naturally sounding chuckle out. "Besides, I had it coming. I kept zapping you over and over." She shrugged.

That seemed to get Pyrrha to laugh as she nodded, "I suppose you had what was due." she drawled out in amusement.

Luna forced another smile, until she heard something vibrate in Pyrrha's bag, causing her to arch a brow in question. "Um. I think your scroll is going off."

"What?" Pyrrha asked in confusion, peering down at her bag. "But I don't- Oh!" She dug through her pockets and pulled a scroll out before offering it to Luna.

"I'm sorry! I forgot I had your scroll. You left it back in our dorm room yesterday during our study session."

"Oh! So that's where it was." Luna said, taking her scroll with a smile. She wasn't worried about anyone going through it since it was made to only register her and her family and besides no one would guess the password was passward she truly was a genius.

"Don't worry, I didn't go through it." Pyrrha reassured, before pausing briefly. "Although, I couldn't help but notice that you had a couple of messages from a Sparkle Butt…?"

Luna laughed, "Yeah that's my… uh… well I guess my brother" She finished. Mercury was pretty much like an older brother to her. He joked around with her and wished to do nothing short of spoil and protect her. That was what brothers did right?

… How do brothers act anyway?

"You never told me you had a brother" Pyrrha asked tilting her head.

"Well he's not my brother by blood but we lived together for a long time and he always acted like an older brother to me, so you know I just call'em my bro"

Pyrrha seemed to nod in understanding, giggling to herself at the title of sparkle butt while Luna opened her scroll. She saw that she had a few messages, two from Mercury as Pyrrha mentioned, and one from her mom.

Opening the scroll (while ensuring that Pyrrha wasn't looking), she quickly read the messages and smiled widely.

She couldn't help but let out a giddy skip as she started reading, only to find out that Mercury, Emerald, her mom, and Neo will be seeing her soon.

Opening the message from her mom only confirmed it, stating that they'll see her within the next coming days.

At that, Luna allowed a small little jig to take over her body her tail waving quickly behind her as she quickly typed out a message back.

"I take that you received some good news?" Pyrrha asked with an amused smile.

"The best!" Luna grinned as she pocketed her scroll, happily walking closer to their dorm rooms with a bounce in her step.

Pyrrha merely smiled, seemingly content to know that Luna was cheerful and continued to make their way to the dorm room in comforting silence.

Upon arrival, Pyrrha turned to Luna with a sheepish look, "So… would you terribly mind if we spar again?"

"Again?" Luna asked half quizzically and half shocked, "But... you won. Both times. " Luna hesitantly said.

"While that may be true, you… managed to drive me into a corner, both times." Pyrrha exclaimed with amazement, "I… you push me to stay on my toes. This is the third time that I've come close to losing."

Luna arched a brow, slowly leaning away from Pyrrha as she gave the other a weird look, "You like the feeling of losing?" Luna asked causing a laugh to erupt from Pyrrha.

"I-" Pyrrha hesitated with a small smile, "-suppose you could say that." she confessed.

"Uhh... " Luna had no idea what to say. She didn't know what to make of a person who enjoyed the possibility of losing, was Pyrrha secretly a masacist.

She herself, didn't like the feeling. Though, Luna felt it was due to how she always had something to lose if she did.

Pyrrha didn't have anything to lose, if she made a mistake oops try again they were complete different in that regard.

"Is… That a no?" Pyrrha asked with slight dejection.

Luna quickly thought back to how Pyrrha had beaten her, already marking the score to two wins while Luna had none. She thought about the idea of coming across Pyrrha, or someone like her, who was stronger than Luna in certain circumstance wills she had to hold back.

With subtlety, Luna's grip tightened as she remembered the time where she was nearly caught by the police during a mission with other members of the White Fang. She clenched her teeth as she remembered how close her former aunt kept chasing her, how close she was to be taken away. And she remembered the plan.

She couldn't afford to lose.

"Sure!" Luna said with a false smile, "I'd love to spar again!"

Pyrrha visibly brightened at the confirmation. "Okay then. I guess I'll see you tomorrow then." She asked more than said as she turned her body toward the door, holding onto the knob.

"Right." Luna nodded, wiggling her fingers.

Pyrrha gave a small smile while opening the door. "Goodnight then." She said before entering her dorm, the door closing quietly behind her.

Luna finally exhaled a sigh of relief, suddenly feeling incredibly tired from more than just physical exhaustion as she turned around. She warily eyed her dorm room door, remembering that she had to play somewhat nice with her teammates as well and allowed another wary sigh to be released.

She couldn't wait until her mom, Mercury, Emerald, and Neo came.

At least then her and Blake would finally get a break from the pretending to be good guys they could do their mission and… relax.

With a deep breath, she straightened her back and thought of another prank to pull over Goodwitch that would allow her to see the teachers frustration, and smiled as she opened the door.

"Hey guys!" She sang, entering the dorm with a wave.

"Hey Looney! How was your sparring session with Pyrrha?" Yang asked from her spot on the floor while holding cards in her hands and a board with pieces in front of her.

Weiss, Blake and Ruby were in similar positions on different sides of the board, with Ruby leaning over toward Weiss and pointing out different cards before they both looked up and waved or nodded in recognition to Luna.

"She whooped butt." Luna said, throwing her bag onto her bed and plopping down on the floor beside Blake to join her teammates. "What's this?"

"We're playing Remnant, want to join?" Yang asked. "Ruby and I are trying to teach Weiss to play."

Luna looked down at the board with a small smile. It was one of the games she loved to bring over to the base when she was younger. "Alright then! Don't think I'll show your people mercy!" Luna exclaimed, scooting forward to get in position plopping Blake on her lap not getting any complaints.

"I'm teaming with Blake"

Yang crossed her arms raising her head to look down on everyone "Ha! It is your kingdom which will fall!" she proclaimed.

"Bring it on!" Luna yelled.

(With Cinder)

Cinder smiled down at her scroll at the brief message Luna had sent her explaining why she wasn't able to message her all day or the night before and apologizing. Cinder didn't mind though, as all that mattered was how excited Luna obviously was upon receiving both news.

It allowed her to breath a small sigh of relief at the validation that Ozpin hadn't done anything to her.

Though she did arch a curious brow upon reading the message pertaining to the arrival of an Atlesian fleet, and Ironwood himself.

"Now remember Torchwick, there are four fire extinguishers in the house." Emerald warned, "So don't be so stupid to get the house burned down, Luna ain't here to eat the flames."

Roman waved her off with a lazy hand, slouching against the couch as he placed his feet on the coffee table. "Yeah yeah.

"And just because we're leaving, don't think it means you have it easy. You still have a job to do." Mercury said with a pointed fingers.

"Don't worry about it," Roman drawled out. "I'll have plenty of fun between the new recruits and toys we're getting. So go on. Shoo. And be sure to say Hi to the kiddo for me."

Neo looked at him in concern.

"Go on Neo, I'll be fine. Have fun with Luna." Roman said, repeating as he waved her away in a shooing motion.

Not giving up, Neo brought her hands in front of her and began signing 'actually I'm gonna visit her with you'

"Alright do what you want" though couldn't help but allow a small smile, "Thanks Neo."

"Let's go." Cinder said, "We need to go get… settled." She finished with a small smirk, turning toward the door with her new uniform on, along with a nice dose of youth cream Salem gave her.


	23. Chapter23

Luna eyed the doorway of Team SSSN dorm room from inside, thinking that Sun the money grabber would finally get what's coming to'em.

Giddy at the thought, Luna shook her head to refocus on the task at hand.

"Hey… this okay?" Cardin grunted out as he stood at the side of the door, holding out a clear film that stretched from the other side of the frame.

"No. You need to pull on it from the top." Luna pointed out.

Cardin sighed as he followed her order, tugging a little from his hand stretched at the corner of the doorframe. "How 'bout now?"

Luna critically eyed the sheet, searching for any sight of a stretch or shine before nodding in approval.

"Looks good!" She claimed with a small grin. She reached into her bag to pull out a roll of tape and began applying the adhesive on the clear sheet to stick to the door frame. After taping the top section, she carefully placed a "warning" note with a angry face drawing on it, to ensure its' fall after the sheet was run into, it read give me my 50 lien or else.

She nodded in approval.

Sun deserved this.

And even if he didn't run into this, there was still a good chance that Neptune or Scarlet would and hopefully they'd pass on the message without any questions.

Luna shook her head again, refusing to think about it.

Cardin sighed in relief when she stopped leaning on him, allowing him to stand at his full height stretching his back to get the kinks out.

"Alright, the only one left is the teachers lounge!" Luna stated, exiting straight out of the room purposely messing up Sun's bed.

Scrambling to gather the few materials, Cardin had to duck through the doorway, to ensure he didn't run into the carefully set prank (again), and quickly trailed after his boss after gently closing the door behind him.

For nearly the entire duration of small lunch, the two had been setting up pranks for those Luna had some sort of grudge with, were away on missions, and who, according to Luna, are fine being on the receiving end of said pranks. Cardin had no idea as to how Luna was able to remember the schedule of so many people nor the idea of knowing those who were easygoing to take part of her endeavors, but they were humorous enough that he didn't mind helping her set them up.

Regardless of her mischievous undertaking, agreeing to run errands for her has been significantly smoother with each passing one. It… helped that Luna had been lessening her threats against Cardin and his team.

Besides, it was… nice when they accomplished something to her liking. She would always smile, or hum in appreciation. And it even seemed like she was enjoying their company as of recent seeing as she would slow her pace to walk alongside them.

But when she got annoyed wether it be a small scowl or baring her fangs, it was the most terrifying thing he had ever witnessed and he fights Grimm on a regular basis.

She sighed slightly upon catching sight of Jaune exiting his dorm room and making his way over to her team's with a guitar strapped to his shoulder.

Out of reflex, Cardin tensed upon noticing his boss's mood change, gripping onto the materials just a little tighter as he slowed his pace.

She quickly schooled her features though, forcing the corners of her mouth to turn up as she bounded over toward Jaune, causing Cardin to wince.

Being exposed to so many of her expressions for nearly half of a school year allowed him to identify and place just about every single one of hers. And while her scowls were terrifying, there was just… something horrific about her fake expressions.

It was just, unsettling, like she was all to used to faking it.

"Jaune! What are you doing?" Luna asked

"Oh! Hey Luna," Jaune smiled brightly, causing Cardin to give him a piteous look. "I just- Well. The dance is coming up!"

"O… kay." Luna nodded.

"And I just thought that I should ask Weiss to it by song!" Jaune beamed, "L-Like in the movies! What do you think?"

Luna stared at him, her fake smile stuck on her face as she just stood before him in silence. She could already feel the areas under her eyes begin to grow even heavier than they already were. "I think… No."

"Wha- N-No?" Jaune asked, flabbergasted. "B-But why?"

She continued staring at him, the corners of her mouth falling giving Jaune a look of 'are you fucking kidding me, it's so obvious'.

"Look Jaune." Luna started, mentally sighing to herself in annoyance as she wondered why she even had to explain this. "Weiss already expressed that she's not interested in you and she was pretty firm with it"

"W-Well, I-I mean," He stuttered out, his cheeks turning red in slight embarrassment. "She's amazing, and pretty. And a great singer. And-"

"Ok Jaune a question for you." Luna said with a blank look, causing him to go a little wide eyed in surprise at her seriousness.

"What's the question?" Jaune asked more than a little nervous since Cardin was standing right behind Luna.

"Do you know Ruby Rose?"

"Wha.. of course I know Ruby we're friends after all"

"Then you should know about her feelings" Luna stated crossing her arms giving Jaune a look matching one only an older sister could give.

"What are you talking about?"

At that Cardin stepped in "dude it's super obvious the squirts got the hots for the ice queen"

"See even a dummy like Cardin can figure it out" She allowed a sigh to escape, "Listen Jaune, there's really no good way to tell you this, but what you're doing… it can actually be kind of annoying and kind of creepy."

"I-I… What?"

"Look at it from another perspective." Luna continued, "Imagine…" She thought for a moment, before her eyes caught Cardin shuffling in place, and she smiled. "Cardin kept following you around."

She said, causing Jaune to pale as he glanced over to Cardin, whimpering a little.

Luna was quite aware of the bullying stunts Cardin pulled over Jaune during the first few weeks of school, the most memorable one where Cardin stuffed Jaune into a locker and sent him off flying. Which is why using him was a perfect example.

"And, he kept watching you. But you don't like it. But he likes you. So you tell him to stop. But he still keeps doing it. Because he has a crush on you." Luna said, exaggerating each pause by a fraction of a second to show her point.

"I-I get it." Jaune nervously stated, eyeing Cardin in fear and taking a step back.

"Beside as Cardin so directly pointed out Weiss is reserved for Ruby so I'm glad we could have this talk to clear things up." Luna nodded in approval.

Jaune bit his lip in thought, "I guess I should say sorry to her if I'm being…" he glanced back over to Cardin before quickly averting his gaze, "... Creepy."

Luna nodded once again, this time with a satisfied smile.

It was probably hard for him to imagine someone mean like Cardin going around and hanging out with someone as nice and fun-loving as Luna.

Apparently, the three caused a bit of a commotion as the door to JNPR's dorm room opened once again, and Pyrrha's head peaked out to check on everything that was going on.

"Jaune? Is everything-" She began, concern on her face as she looked for her team leader before her eyes took notice of Luna. Her expression changed to inquiry as the rest of her body emerged from the doorway. "Hello again Luna. What a pleasant surprise! And-" She took notice of the third person, her eyes suddenly becoming guarded, her eyebrows narrowed as she walked up to him, blocking his path from Luna and Jaune as best she could. "Cardin. What are you doing here?"

Jaune seemed to relax at the presence of Pyrrha, happy to have someone standing in between him and Cardin.

Meanwhile, Cardin spluttered, intimidated by Pyrrha's presence as he slowly stepped back, frantically glancing toward Luna, who genuinely seemed entertained (though a little confused) by the situation, for help.

Noticing his silent cries, Luna figured that she should put a stop on the situation before it escalated as she sort of stepped in between Cardin and Pyrrha. "He's just helping me out Pyrrha."

The answer didn't seem to ease Pyrrha's concern as she frowned. "Helping? With what if you don't mind me asking?"

Recognizing that Pyrrha would not calm unless she obtained the truth, Luna figured that it just might be easier for her and Cardin to get away and continue on with what they were doing if she just told Pyrrha.

"He's helping me set up some pranks" She said her ears tucking down in defeat.

Cardin slightly relaxed in relief as he realized that he would no longer in danger. Though decided to keep his eyes on the situation.

"... Pranks?" Pyrrha asked in tone that implied she wasn't certain as to whatever was being spoken of.

"Yeah…?" Luna answered uncertainly.

Upon the blank, questioning look she received, Luna found that she had to fix this travesty that was Pyrrha's ignorance to the unbelievable fun of mischief.

"So you set up... traps-" Luna began, gesturing to the supplys Cardin held to help show her explanation. "-for someone. And the point is that you try to fool them into falling for the trap so you can laugh."

"That sounds terrible." Pyrrha exclaimed in concern, her hands pressed together in a silent prayer as she held it against her mouth. "Why would you hurt someone for a laugh?"

"No. No one is supposed to get hurt by the prank." Luna frantically waved, as though to erase her previous words. "The trap is harmless. It's just a silly little thing that people fall for."

"But… Why would you set up a trap that is harmless?" Pyrrha asked, her hands falling back into place as she thought about the strategic implications for a battle.

"It's just supposed to be funny." Luna said with a small smile. "Like that time when Ren's body had pink coloring? It was because he fell for the prank."

"Ohhh." Pyrrha sounded with a slow nod as she finally understood. "It is all for jest!"

"Yes!" Luna confirmed with a wider smile, thinking who even says jest anymore.

"So what is it that Cardin is helping you do?" Pyrrha asked in curiousity.

"Oh, well." Luna glanced back over to him, who had an eyebrow that was pulled up in interest toward her, before glancing back up to Pyrrha. "He's helping me go around and setting up clear sheets at people's doors for them to run into. We were just about to set one up at the teachers lounge so professor Goodwitch could-"

"Luna?! What are you doing?"

The sound of Weiss shrilling her demand down the hallway made Luna freeze tail straightining as she turned around, seeing her teammates walking toward her. Blake, Ruby and Yang were walking slightly slower than Weiss, who was marching up to Luna with a sense of purpose.

"Nothing!" Luna squeaked, before she hurriedly gestured to Cardin to put the items behind his back.

"Hide them!" She hissed.

Weiss's eyes narrowed up at her, coming to a halt a few feet away as she pointed an accusatory finger toward her teammate. "Don't lie to me. You were going to set something up to cause more trouble?"

"No I wasn't!" Luna claimed, causing Pyrrha to look questioningly down at her.

"But you just said-" Pyrrha began.

Luna frantically waved her hands about, holding a single finger to her lips as she attempted to hush Pyrrha with a "ShshShhhhh." Only to elicit an amused, but confused expression to cross from Pyrrha.

"Ah ha! So you were planning something." Weiss glared.

It was too late, Luna knew that her prank mission failed. The only hopes she had to salvage this situation and for redemption was to pretend it was going to help Weiss in some way.

"Not everything I do is mischievous Weiss!" Luna exclaimed, throwing her hands into the air.

"When it comes to you I'll have to 'respectfully' disagree." Weiss enunciated with air quotes before crossing her arms in indignation.

"You're just all huffy because you fall for all of them." Luna sassed

A sigh broke the bickering between the two, "Why can't the two of you just… get along for once?" Blake asked wearily.

"Blake! Please! If it were not for her… shenanigans, then we would not have problems in the first place!" Weiss protested

Blake could only give a small nod of agreement.

Luna stuck her tongue out in defiance.

"Luna. Please." Blake sighed smirking at Luna childish nature

Luna merely huffed, crossing her arms as a frown worked it's way up on her face, causing Blake to smile knowing Luna was faking.

Pyrrha nervously glanced back in between Weiss and Luna, unsure of what to do to help calm the situation, before she can voice anything out, Luna beat her to it.

"Wait a second… You guys are back early by a few minutes." Luna stated with slight confusion. "Are you going out somewhere?"

"Hm. The way you manage to keep track of so many schedules and correctly use deductive reason to guess one's current train of action never ceases to amaze me, I swear your lightning powers effect your brain." Weiss hummed in praise.

"Yeah. We have some important stuff to do in town." Said Ruby

"You should come with us." Yang grinned, "It'll be fuuun." She sang.

Ruby nodded, "with your super strength we'll be able to carry all the stuff and maybe Blake will finally agree to come along." she reasoned.

Weiss was inclined to agree.

"Oh. Gee. Uh." Luna began and already, Cardin could tell that his boss did not have any desire to join them, "I'd love to! But I kind of already have plans to meet with Glynda."

Everyone (besides Cardin) looked at her with astonishment. Unsure of whether or not to be astonished at the fact that Luna had been able to make plans with the professor, or the fact that the professor had willingly made plans with Luna.

"Did you finally get in trouble?" Weiss voiced out.

"No. Glynda is helping me with weapon maintenance and upgrading!" She stated with a large, excited smile on her face. "You see, I've wanted to combine my gun with my sword to help improve my flexibility, but I never knew how and I was too scared to do it myself. So I asked Glynda and she said that she would be more than willing to help me!"

Her teammates couldn't help but share her excitement, knowing fully well that Luna had no other choice but to settle with her current build of her weapons due to her inaccessibility to a proper education growing up.

"Awww! That's great! I'm happy for you!" Yang encouraged, clapping Luna on the back to emphasize her statement.

Blake also smiled, "I'm glad that you'll be able to upgrade your weapons to how you want now, maybe I'll come join you."

"It's certainly worth leaving us, it'll give Blake something to do." Weiss nodded

Luna merely grinned, beaming under all the positivity heading toward her way. "We'll try not to have too much fun without you guys." She stated, causing Yang to laugh.

"Don't worry, we're not too jealous." Yang said, covering Ruby's mouth before she could have her tantrum.

"Well, try not to do anything that I would." Luna cheekily stated

"We won't." Weiss deadpanned, causing Blake to shake her head with an amused smile as the other three went into the dorm room to change and leaving Pyrrha, Jaune, Luna, Blake, and Cardin out in the hallway.

"Well that was…" Jaune began, though was left unsure how to finish his sentence.

"... Interesting." Pyrrha finished for him.

Even Cardin was a little stupefied at the team's rather odd dynamic, though he was mostly surprised at how Luna seemed almost... relaxed, even silly, with her team, her seriousness seeemed to melt away.

Though just barely. The moments they weren't there, Luna seemed to be on her guard and her eyes seemed to dull.

"Are you five always like that?" Pyrrha asked Luna who half shrugged.

"Pretty much." Luna answered, glancing on over to the door of her dorm room with a sigh. "I guess we're finished with our pranks then, don't want to lie to the rest a my team." She concluded, causing Cardin to mentally thank Remnant.

"Let's go return that stuff to ." Luna said to him, eyeballing the materials in his hands.

"We'll see you later then Luna, Blake." Jaune waved.

Pyrrha waved good-bye to Luna and Blake as well.

Luna continued waving to them cheerfully until the two disappeared back into their room, and within a split second, her eyes seemed to shift to a genuine shine as she slung an arm over Blake's shoulder

It was as though she had been faking her feelings toward her so called friends, but Cardin liked the look in her eyes will she was with Blake it was way better then her fake expressions.

With her girlfriend, Luna seemed to actually be present and not in her mind with constant thinking, constant planning.

With Blake… Luna didn't seem to actually think much about her actions.

It made Cardin feel… happy that his boss had someone to open up to. Even if it was just a little.

"What à sec is that?"

Cardin snapped his head up in confusion upon hearing Luna speak, looking up to find who it was that Luna was talking about to and seeing three students from Haven walking down the hallway toward them.

"Hello Luna!" The one in the center, leading the other two smiled.

"Oh my gosh! You're here!" Luna exclaimed, running up to her mother with a wide, excited smile that was even wider than when Luna was with Blake, and gave her a crushing hug while instantly setting up a camera disabling field.

Cardin's eyes nearly bulged from their sockets at the display of affection. He had thought that Luna was incapable of such things.

"Mercury! Emerald! When did you guys get here? I thought you weren't coming for days!" Luna rushed out, glancing between the three as she leaned away from Cinder, but not out of their hug.

"We just got here this morning." Mercury chuckled, ruffling Luna's hair and ears receiving a small purr. "Along with the rest of Haven students."

"Which, if you had paid attention to when Haven was arriving, you would have known that we would be here too." Emerald haughtily stated while poking at Luna's forehead.

"I knew I forgot to remind you of something" Blake said tapping her chin

Cinder gave a small frown upon noticing something, bringing a hand up to Luna's face and lightly pulling under her eye with a thumb. "Luna… Why have you not been sleeping enough?" She softly, but sternly demanded, causing Luna to nervously chuckle as she tried to pull away from the hold. Only for Cinder to tug her head back into place as both Mercury and Emerald leaned closer with concern, noticing the slightly darker lines under her eyes.

"I have been!" Luna Yelled, "Honest! It's just… Well there were a few tests recently and uh… I guess I've been sacrificing sleep to keep up my exercise routine so it's been tiring me out."

Her tiredness also probably had something to do with that she had to constantly show her… pleasantries to people even when she doesn't want to. The constant motion of studying for her classes, analyzing other students, trying to hold back in sparring class (now, with Pyrrha), and ensuring her well-likeness around campus, along with trying to complete her actual mission then of course it would eventually take a toll on Luna.

But… she refused to acknowledge the fact.

"That's not good," Cinder sighed, letting her hand drop from Luna's face. "You need to ensure that you stay well rested. Have you at least been eating properly?" She asked.

Luna pouted, puffing her cheeks out at the question. "Of course I have." She huffed. "I've eaten all the things!"

Cinder smiled in amusement, pinching Luna's cheek, "Hm. Considering the sudden appearance of the pudge on your cheeks, then I suppose it must be true." She teased before squeezing them together to force the air out hearing a loud pop. Cinder grinned a little wider before pulling on them again. An easy feat considering how elastic Luna's cheeks looked.

Witnessing Luna's completely relaxed childish nature aswell as hearing Luna whine "Mom!", Cardin assumed this must have been the family Luna had talked about "Wait!, MOM!!" Cardin screamed in his mind

Mercury seemed to have caught him staring, looking up from his source of entertainment after sensing someone watching, and his eyes hardened.

Cardin froze, like a deer caught in headlights as his knees began to tremble.

"And who are you?" Mercury asked with a slight growl.

"Uh… I-I…" Cardin swallowed hard, not sure why he was so frightened by a mere question when Mercury hadn't even done anything yet. He tried glancing over to Luna in vain as she wasn't even paying attention to him. Instead, he caught sight of a fierce glare Emerald was throwing his way.

"That's Cardin!" Blake stated, smiling seeing Cardin close to shiting himself. "He's sort of like a Luna henchmen."

"So he's like Luna's Roman." Emerald summarized.

"Yeah. But if Roman couldn't steal and was dumber."

"Then Mercury." Emerald mocked, throwing a side smirk over to her affiliate.

"Oh how you wound me." Mercury drolled, placing his hand over his chest.

"Less drama, more huffy." Luna said, still focusing on trying to stop Cinder messing with her.

"Then basically Emerald." Mercury snarked.

"She said no stealing." Emerald growled.

Cardin could only watch in complete confusion as the 5 continued talking amongst themselves, completely engrossed in one another. It… felt like he didn't belong there at all. Like he shouldn't even be watching this moment despite the fact that he was the subject.

"Now now," Cinder began in a quiet tone, making Emerald, Mercury and Blake immediately silence themselves while Luna continued whining and grunting as Cinder kept amusing herself with her daughters cheeks. "Whoever he's most like, I'm sure that he's still a diligent worker who would, with no doubt, continue serving and being loyal to Luna even if he dies. Am I right?" Cinder asked Cardin with a silent glare.

The look caused a harsh shiver to run down Cardin's back, his legs trembling even more than before as he nodded harshly, realizing where Luna got her terrifying side. "Y-Yes Ma'm."

Apparently the confirmation wasn't enough for Cinder as she narrowed her eyes which began to glow down at him, "Swear it."

"I-I swear that I will r-risk my l-life for Luna a-and serve her unt-til I die." He stuttered out.

Cinder hummed in amusement, returning her gaze back to Luna's face. "I"m happy that you were able to find someone so useful and compliant dearest daughter."

"Can you let go now?" Luna whined, her eyes slightly tearing up from all the prolonged pinching and stretching, already giving up trying to get her mother to stop.

Cinder smirked, letting go of Luna's cheeks and ending the embrace.

Luna rubbed her deeply red cheeks with a pout, tearfully grumbling at her mother for putting her through all that pain before glaring away.

Cinder cooed down at her, "Awww, don't be so mad Luna."

"I will get my revenge." Luna vowed, refusing to even look at her mother as Mercury snickered at her words and misfortune.

"You say that all the time." Emerald stated, rolling her eyes.

"That's because I will!" Luna declared, dramatically shaking her fist in the air. "With the help of Neo, we will get revenge on all of you- where's Neo?" She asked, looking around as she just noticed her absence.

"Helping Torchwick." Emerald said

"He's in charge of the faction meeting tonight," Mercury explained before allowing a small crooked smirk to tug on one side of his cheek. "And the new recruits."

"It's to show off the new military weapons." Emerald finished, causing Luna to gasp. Emerald donned a look of arrogance at the reaction, lifting her chin up as she taunted, "We got them while you were away."

"You stole new weapons without me there to test?" Luna asked in an accusatory tone toward an amused Cinder.

"We couldn't exactly pull you out of school when it happened." Mercury said.

Luna pouted. "But! I wanna see them! I'm are weapons tester how do you know if there tough enough"

"If you want," Cinder began. "You can go take a look at them tonight. It would do the recruits some good to know who you two are."

Luna allowed another gasp, this time of excitement, to sound. "Really?"

"I would be good for everyone to know who not to attack just in case" Blake stated

Cinder nodded with an affectionate smile. "You can pick Neo up before returning. Just promise not to get into any trouble."

"I'll try my best not to!" Luna jumped for joy, right when her scroll began beeping. "Oh. That's my alarm, I need to go." Luna frowned ears dropping.

Emerald seemed confused, furrowing her brows in slight annoyance. "What's so important?"

"Well, I have this meeting with a teacher to help me combine my weapons." Luna stated sheepishly. "Send me the info about the meeting?"

Cinder nodded, "Maybe we'll see you around." she teased, opening her arms for Luna to enter.

Luna giggled, wrapping her arms around Cinder in a hug and giving her a quick squeeze before the two separated.

"Definitely! C'mon Cardin, Blake, let's go!" She called before they departed from one another.

Blake obliged quickly running after Luna, waving her goodbyes to Cinders group.

Cardin nodded, silently following after his boss and ducking his head to avert his gaze from the other three.

When they were far enough and he felt safe, he finally allowed himself to relax.

"Don't tell anyone who they are." Luna said heating up the space around her, causing Cardin to tense again.

"I-I had no plans to." He reassured.

"Good." Blake nodded with a smirk, allowing him to relax as he smiled, albeit nervously, back.

"Now, I really gotta go before I'm late. So, after you take these back to Sergeant, you can take some time off until I call you again." Luna said quickly hoisting Blake onto her back.

"Thanks." Cardin smiled before Luna zipped off to meet with Glynda, Blake gripping her back tightly so she wouldn't fall off.

"What do you mean he bailed on me?!" Yang yelled, slamming her hands down on the bar countertop harshly.

Ruby and Weiss glanced to each other nervously, standing a few feet away from behind Yang as they watched her interrogate some shady owner of a nightclub that she had taken them to while being surrounded by what they can assume to be guards.

"I mean he quit! Gone! Started workin for someone else!" The owner of the nightclub, Junior (as Ruby and Weiss found out to the latter's disdain) repeated as he massaged his forehead from the obvious stress in front of him.

"Well figure out who hired him or help me get more information for my investigation otherwise you're going to wish you were gone!" Yang gritted out with a clenched fist.

"Hey! Sit your ass down and cool it." Junior pointed down to emphasize his demand.

Yang gave a weary sigh, wilting as she slumped over on her stool and leaned onto the bar with her hand rubbing her scalp. "Look, I'm sorry okay? I'm just frustrated. He was really close with his investigation and all of a sudden he stops sendin reports."

Junior sighed himself. "Alright, look Blondie. If it's information from the guy you need, I can get it." He tried to placate with his palms out. "I can track his scroll and download everything he last updated or input onto it, to easily make a duplicate." He explained.

Yang suddenly straightened up with renewed interest, "Then what are you waiting for? Do it!" She demanded, emphasizing each word with a clap onto the countertop to encourage his haste.

"I'm going! I'm going." Junior relented, stalking away from the counter to go into a backroom.

"That was most impressive." Weiss stated, eyeing the door Junior exited through.

"How do you know him again?" Ruby asked confused. It wasn't everyday that your sister had connections with some real shady people.

Yang gave a low chuckle, "I got a tip that he knew about all the dealings in Vale and had men to lend. So I came in and asked for his best investigator. I couldn't afford the initial price and he didn't want to bargain."

"You didn't start a fight did you?" Weiss asked aghast.

"What? No!" Yang denied, "Before I could leave, Junior stopped me so he could talk to his buddy and hashed out a discount."

"That's rather... generous of him." Weiss said with a bit of skepticism.

"Yeah, I thought so too. I asked him about it and he told me that it's kind of a family thing to help out kids that come to their place" Yang shrugged.

"Alright, here you are blondie." Junior's voice came as a scroll slid down to Yang while he walked back to his spot behind the bar.

Yang checked the scroll, going through a bit of the information before nodding in approval. "Thanks Junior." She said before getting up and walking toward the door with Weiss and Ruby.

"Anytime." Junior grumbled, as he picked up a glass to clean.

By the time the three got out, they quickly slid into a cab that they had hailed earlier (asking the driver to wait for them). Weiss tried to peek over Yang's shoulder to see what was on the scroll, but was nudged sharply in the side by Ruby to stop.

She had no choice but to settle for asking, "So? What did your investigator find out?"

Yang glared down at the scroll, a deep frown on her face as she violently shoved it into her pocket.

"Apparently, the investigator last saw my mom trail here in vale. Robbing a dust shop." She grunted out in agitation.

"I mean… We already knew that she was here? But why is she robbing dust shops? Is she poor? Does she need help? " Yang continued asking herself, growing more and more anxious with each passing one.

"Yang. Please." Weiss interrupted, placing her hand on Yang's shoulder to help draw her attention. "I'm sure your mother is… relatively fine. Besides, chances are unlikely that she is dire financial need as one simply just does not rob a dust shop for money."

Ruby nodded in agreement, "Maybe she just might needs dust to help her stay safe."

Yang's eyes widened in fear while Weiss shot Ruby a look of disapproval for increasing Yangs fears.

"Listen, I'm sure she is in better condition than what you think." Weiss tried to console.

"You don't know that!" Yang woefully stated, "And I don't know that! And I can't find out because my investigator bailed on me!"

"Which is why I will gather some files from that dust shop at the CCT." Weiss reasoned, "It'll be easy for me to access the records in that area."

Yang sighed in relief, "Thanks Weiss."

Weiss hummed as the car stopped, quickly paying the driver as Ruby got out and opened the door for her. "You're welcome." She said as she and Yang exited as well.

"That was nice of you." Ruby whispered to Weiss as she closed the door after.

Weiss preened at the compliment, throwing her hair back behind her shoulder. "It was only natural seeing that I am the one who called the cab."

Ruby smirked, her eyes sparkle in amusement. "I meant what you're doing for Yang."

"Oh!" This time Weiss glanced down nervously, "It's nothing. Just a simple feat for someone like myself."

"Doesn't matter, it was nice." Ruby side hugged, eliciting a small smile from Weiss as they entered the CCT.

Yang stood near the center of the lobby area, staring up at the high ceiling, numerous balconies, and the crystal clear windowed elevators overlooking them with awe. "It looks a lot bigger on the inside." She whispered.

"This is nothing compared to the one in Atlas." Weiss informed as the three made their way to an elevator. "While yes, this is rather impressive, it seems to be a major part of the city and out of the Vale Council's way, but instead - close to Beacon Academy. The CCT in Atlas is at the center of the kingdom due to the fact that the government, military, and education system are integrated. Everything in Atlas is built around the tower to accommodate it. It was also the first one to be built. I suppose due to that reason, they wished for it to be the most imposing before gifting the other three communication towers to the other kingdoms after the Great war."

"But, I must say. The one here seems," Weiss looked around, as if searching for the correct word to place. "More welcoming." She smiled as they entered a lift and pushed a button for one of the higher floors.

"Isn't the one in Atlas known to be guarded really heavily." Ruby half questioned.

"It's so they know who is in the tower and why they're in the tower at all times. I believe it's more of a formality then it is for security though." Weiss nodded, stepping out of the elevator once it stopped.

"They simply wish to show the public the exact importance of the tower. After all, without it the kingdoms would no longer be able to contact each other and their people to each other. All information that could easily obtained from servers would be lost as well. Being able to provide such an important item to the world is one of Atlas's most proud achievements. So they wish to showcase it to their people."

"Atlas kind of sounds like they're full of themselves." Yang muttered, though was sharply nudged by Blake who nodded over to Weiss. Realizing her mistake, Yang tried to backtrack and began stuttering. "Uh. Not that… All Atlesians… Well… I mean, Weiss is kind of- But not as bad."

Weiss hummed as she sat down on one of the free computers, "I have to be inclined to agree. I have met one a many of politicians, CEOs, and military commanders due to being the heiress of the Schnee Dust Company, so yes. We do have a tendency to be… self-centered. I suppose." She confessed before connecting a call.

Yang and Ruby glanced to each other, and before either one of them could even try to tell Weiss differently, the call was answered.

"Thank you for calling- Oh! Miss Schnee, good afternoon!" An employer greeted, their face coming into view with the Schnee Dust Company logo behind them. "Would you like me to patch you through to your father? I believe your sister, Winter, is also here."

"Good afternoon." Weiss greeted with an amiable smile, "And as pleasant as that may sound, I'm actually calling in hopes of obtaining some data for my friend and a school project. I've already compiled a short list." She stated, already inserting her scroll into the designated station

"Friends you say?" The employer asked with an arched brow, looking behind Weiss and a much too wide smile.

"... Yes." Weiss nodded.

The employer seemed to bounce a little in giddy, glancing over to the side to take a look at the information. "Right away ma'- Um. I'm sorry ma'm, but there are some really sensitive documents that you're requesting."

"I understand. Please do not worry, my friends and I will be sure to treat them with the utmost care." Weiss promised. "But some of that is incredibly vital to some… personal interests."

The employer pursed their lip in thought, glancing between the three before nodding. "Very well then."

They stated before sending the requested information. "The data is being transferred to your scroll now."

"Thank you very much. That will be all then." Weiss smiled, attempting to disconnect the call.

"Are you sure you don't wish for me to patch you through to your family before you?" The employer hurriedly asked, "I'm certain that they'll be happy to see that you've made new friends."

"Yes." Weiss hesitantly answered with a shaky smile. "I'm sure."

"Alright then. Have a nice day." The employer stated before disconnecting the call and allowing Weiss to sigh in relief.

"Are you okay?" Ruby asked, noticing the wry look on Weiss's face.

"I'm fine." Weiss nodded, swiveling around in the seat and standing up to face Yang. "Here, I'll send you the information on that dust shop your mother was last seen." She said, holding her scroll out as the three began walking back to the ground floor.

"Thanks Weiss. You're the best." Yang smiled, "But I'll check it out when we get back to the dorm.

(Meanwhile back at beacon)

"I think that does it Luna." Glynda announced. "You should take some time to get used to how your weapon preforms."

Luna happily cheered as she gathered her books and dozens of notes. "Thank you so much for helping me out!"

Glynda gave a small smile, "I'm more than happy to help. Now, just remember to go over your notes before our next session and to put some thought into what upgrades you wish to include for your weapons, that are realistic. I understand the excitement you hold for your fanciful wishes, but you must understand that there is no practical reason to incorporate… rocket launchers into your weapons and fighting style. Then, we'll go over the applications, draw out the plans, and build a few trial cases for you."

Luna nodded along, "Alright! Again, thank you so much! You're the best professor ever!" Luna announced.

At the proclamation, Glynda indulged herself to a self-satisfied look. "You're very welcome Luna, but please do be sure to tell the rest of your teachers that, miss Belladonna please be sure to remind her"

"I will." Blake nodded,

"Have a good night professor!" Luna waved before rushing out of the room Blake in tow.

Luna and Blake continued running through the halls, the former smiling at herself in pure happiness, will the other smirked at seeing her girlfriends happiness.

Everything seemed to be going right for her today; she was learning how to upgrade her weapons, her mother and everyone had arrived to school, and she was going to see Roman and the arsenal he had at his disposal.

She did a quick, giddy jump into the air just thinking about seeing the new weapons.

Then after, she, Blake and Neo will hang out for a while, getting into some mischief while Roman tags along or amuses himself. After a while, she, Blake and Neo will return back home (or… the dorms in this case) and she'll be able to wind down and relax with her mother, sister, girlfriend, …………oh Mercury and Emerald too.

"Hey Blake we got awhile before we gotta meet up with the others ya wanna head to the library"

"Hmm sure we haven't really made much progress on our mission, it would be good to start that"

"Agreement" Luna said changing course toward the library

(20 minutes)

"So where have you looked exactly"

"Uhhh... honestly, everywhere at this point." Luna, slouching over the book again. "I'm starting ta think the lab doesn't even exist I'm mean the info wasent even from one of our top guys!"

"Really?" Blake rubbed her chin as she glossed over the many details. It just took her a few seconds to come to a conclusion. "Well, why not think back to the movies?"

"Movies?"

"Yeah, remember? Back when we were kids, we watched so many spy movies and adventure movies with people trying to find secret, buried, treasure, remember?" She reminded. "And where did those treasures usually tend to be?"

"Well," Luna looked over the pages closely, "usually they would either be at the top of a castle or the bottom of a temple. But I've looked everywhere around here, and the lowest part of the school is just some janitorial and plumbing facility."

"Well just think deeper then." She suggested with a smile. For some reason those words actually brought her mind to focus.

"Think... deeper?"

"Yeah. Remember back in those spy movies and stuff? There was always a secret area inside of those places that weren't placed on the maps. And the secret access to enter those places always came from..." She trailed off, slowly tracing her finger to one particular portion of the picture.

"The elevator."

It was as if the universe just smacked Luna in the face.

Of course!

How did she not see it sooner!

She knew it wasn't going to be labeled on the map, that was just a given for a facility. What she hadn't accounted for was the possibility of a secret entrance, one so simple yet complex that she wouldn't have even given it a second thought!

Elevators could easily be programmed to do any number of things, which includes secretly accessing hidden parts of a security building, as well as hiding accessible panels and buttons from the public. Just because there wasn't a simple button saying "Lab Floor" or anything didn't mean there wasn't a floor in which it existed!

"Oh my dust Blake I could kiss you right now, in fact that just what I'm gonna do" Luna said cupping Blake's face bringing her in for a passionate kiss.

The two separated both smiling "hmm happy to help now get going, you still have time before you have to meet everyone"

"Yeah, Yeah gotta go fast" said Luna zipping away toward the elevator and within minutes she was there a small amount of dust trailing past her as she stopped.

Boom!*

Fuck keeping a low profile. This was it. This was the moment Luna had waited for. With the hallways cleared, nothing stopped her from punching the Elevator's flooring to pieces. It was a bit risky, especially if she ended up punching the wrong elevator to begin with, yet fate seemed to be in her favor tonight. There it was, nearly thousands of feet below her, was that one bottomless void which would lead her to the lab.

It had to be there, it just had to!. There was no going back from here on in, and every second she waited or delayed would bring her closer to getting caught. She wished she could say goodbye to her friends one more time, as she stepped into the hole of the elevator shaft. There wasn't anything else to do at this point except wait till she got near the bottom, one that would bring her to the fruition of her grand scheme, the one that would allow her to leave this accursed academy forever, getting it closed down and removing potential obstacles for granny Salem!

All she needed to do now was wait. Wait until she neared the bottom of the shaft's clearing, and pray that she'd find another entrance. With it being as deep as it was, it was almost impossible that there wasn't going to be an entrance waiting for her at the bottom.

It was during this brief descent that some things floated through her mind. All the people she's met, all the friends she came to know. All in all, they weren't all as evil as she expected them to be. She supposed that was a given considering how big this place was, how big the world was. If one out of every one thousand new hunters were actually the good ones compared to the rest like Cardin, then she surmised that she drew the lucky end of the straw and found all of those that were.

The eight friends she came to know of, they were possibly the only good ones within this entire academy full of evil. That much she could agree with.

Or maybe this place was starting to play tricks on her mind? She never would've thought this several months ago, so who's to say these thoughts were entirely hers? What if it was Ozpin's brainwashing that started to make her think this way? What if his evil brainwashing tried to turn her against her own family?!

No. That was out of the question, beyond a doubt. She was coming to the bottom of the large elevator shaft, and she was going to find the lab. Then she was going to get all the valuable info, all for her family's sake and that of the rest of the world.

Luna was coming close to the bottom and using her powers she shot fire from her hands and feet to slow her decent, standing in front of a metal door which she could pry open with her fingertips, was the last thing standing between her and the ultimate prize.

There it was.

A huge hallway filled with rooms about four in total, a big room on the right two smaller rooms on the left and one medium sized room at the end, taking it all in she started with the large room in the right reading the plack on the door 'combat testing'

"Course they'd want to make super soilders this really is like the movies" heading inside Luna saw a not so preety sight mixtures of dried Grimm and human blood all over the floor and walls the strong smell torturing her enhanced senses but she indured pulling out her scroll snapping a few pics.

Next was the room at the end

Reading the place above the door 'Maiden' "wait this was were the maiden disappeared to, were they trying to make more?" going in she saw two tubes the one on the right was empty, will the one on the left had an unconsciousness women inside, she looked tired as if her body went through a horrific experience that would plague it until it died, pulling out her scroll she snapped some more picks not bothering to free the women "sorry lady I got a schedule to keep"

Leaving the maidens cell Luna checked on the final room, the joined smaller rooms, reading the plack Luna felt her skin go cold 'Mia Drake LDQ, Shade Drake D1, Luna….Drake D2!, her name why was her name here, why was Shade's name here why, Mia was that their mother, D2 what was that all out.

"What are you doing down here?"

"..."

No. It couldn't be. It just couldn't. No. Scratch that. It could but why.

Luna found herself frozen for the first time since coming here in absolute fear. Yet, for some reason, she turned around. Every fiber of her being was telling her not to, but she did it anyway. She turned around. And that's when she saw him staring back.

Professor Ozpin.


	24. Le post

Alright people I know I don't ask any questions but there's a first time for everything

But first a sad announcement I shall be taking a break from Cinder little dragon, I've been trying to think of where to go but not many ideas have come.

So I shall leave it up to y'all to decide between A, B, or C

A. I continue with A magician I a warrior tribe

B. I write a Fairytail FanFiction

C. I write a Yu-Gi-Oh! FanFiction

It's up to you and I hope you ain't too upset about the break.


End file.
